'70% fit' Jasprit Bumrah could be ready for Ireland T20Is in August - Reports

Jasprit Bumrah is recovering well at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the latest reports suggest he could be declared fit for the Ireland T20Is in August. Bumrah, who last played in September 2022, is away from cricket owing to his back issue. Following undergoing back surgery early this year in New Zealand, the right-am pacer is recovering quickly, and the team management and BCCI are hopeful of him returning earlier than expected.

As India struggled to line up their best pacers for the recently-concluded World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia, which resulted in them going down for the second straight time, Bumrah’s return will boost the team's chances heading into the home World Cup later this year.

Following the West Indies tour that ends on August 13, Ireland T20s will begin from August 18 to 23. Though the BCCI selectors are not keen on rushing into bringing back Bumrah into the setup, they are hopeful of him getting match-ready for the Ireland series. The main aim, however, remains the same – to have a 100% fit Bumrah ready for the World Cup, scheduled for the October-November window.

Bumrah last appeared in the Indian jersey during home T20Is against Australia in September last year, right before the start of the T20 World Cup in Australia – a move that backfired as the reoccurrence of pain in his back resulted in him missing the mega event. Though he was in contention for a return earlier during Sri Lanka and New Zealand home series, Bumrah’s decision to undergo the knife ruled him out for an indefinite period.

He missed the Border-Gavaskar series, the IPL 2023 for Mumbai Indians and the WTC Final 2023. With India slated to participate in the Asia Cup from August 31 to September 17 (co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka), Bumrah will have ample time to make a return and play a few games before the World Cup begins.

As things stand, the right-arm seamer is undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA and reports state he is 70 per cent fit and is on the right path to recovery.

West Indies tour in sight

India will begin their next WTC cycle with two-match Tests against West Indies, starting July 12 in Dominica. Men in Blue will play three ODIs and five T20Is later on.

Here are India’s Test and ODI squads for the West Indies series –

Test squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar

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