Jasprit Bumrah pulled out of India vs Sri Lanka ODIs in huge U-turn, BCCI names revised squad for series

On the eve of India’s series opener against Sri Lanka, the BCCI has pulled Jasprit Bumrah out of the three-match ODI squad, given the string of important series that lie ahead.

Bumrah, who was added to the squad for the series starting tomorrow for his first cricketing assignment since October, has been removed with the directives coming from the NCA.

“Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Bumrah, who was set to join the team in Guwahati ahead of the ODI series, will need some more time to build bowling resilience. This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has not named any replacement for Jasprit Bumrah,” the BCCI said in a release.

With Bumrah showing a tendency to break down after playing non-stop cricket, it is believed that the India pacer is better off being given a little more time before returning at full throttle. Bumrah is however, expected to feature in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at home in a four-Test series starting next week, the Indian Premier League, possibly the World Test Championship final and of course, the World Cup taking place in India later this year.

Initially, it was believed that the BCCI is satisfied with the progress shown by Bumrah since recovering from the back injury he encountered in his back. After rushing back for the T20Is against Australia before the World Cup, Bumrah’s injury resurfaced, which is why the BCCI decided to keep India’s premier pacer away and waited for his full recovery. Bumrah has not travelled with the Indian team to Guwahati, venue for the first ODI.

While recovering, Bumrah kept posting videos of his training and impending return on social media, and while he was not named in India’s initial squad, the board decided to add him in a bumper start to the new year. But now, it seems as if Bumrah’s return to top-flight cricket has been delayed as the pacer may still not be 100 percent ready for a comeback.

Bumrah is not stranger to injuries. In 2018, Bumrah had fractured his left thumb which sidelines him for three weeks and the ODI and T20I series against England. The following year, after the 2019 World Cup, Bumrah was down with a lower-back stress fracture, due to which he had to miss the home Test series against South Africa and went for treatment in the UK. During India’s 2020-21 tour of Australia, Bumrah picked up an abdominal strain during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was ruled out of the fourth Test at the Gabba.

With Bumrah’s management being monitored carefully and taken care of, the pacer remained injury free for over a year, but hurt his back after India’s limited-overs tour of England, where he had grabbed 6/19 at The Oval. As a result of it, Bumrah was ruled out of India’s Asia Cup campaign. He returned to play two T20Is against Australia in Nagpur and Hyderabad, returning figures of 1/23 and 0/50, when the injury resurfaced and forced him to miss the World Cup in Australia.

India’s updated squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh