Bumrah express to arrive soon
Bridgetown, July 27
India captain Rohit Sharma cannot wait to welcome a fit-again Jasprit Bumrah back into the side before the 50-overs home World Cup, but is unsure whether he will have recovered from injury fast enough to be included in next month’s tour of Ireland.
Pace spearhead Bumrah, who has not played international cricket since last September, is in the final stage of his rehabilitation after undergoing back surgery in New Zealand in March.
India will play eight limited-overs matches against West Indies before heading to Ireland to play three T20 Internationals there.
“His experience is crucial for the team,” Rohit said ahead of the first ODI against West Indies today. “He’s back from a serious injury. I’m not sure if he’d travel to Ireland, because the team has not been selected yet. We’ll try to make sure he gets to play enough matches before the World Cup.”
The Asia Cup in August-September is a more realistic target for Bumrah to return to international cricket and the subsequent home series against Australia should be enough to get him in prime form, hoped Rohit.
“When you return from a big injury, you lack match fitness,” he said. “If he plays some matches, it would be good for him and the team. We need to finalise his comeback plans. All depends on how much he has recovered. We are quite positive at the moment.”
Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said Bumrah might be tested in the Ireland series. “Bumrah is totally fit and he may go to Ireland,” Shah said.
Rohit also spoke about the Indian team’s injury problems in their ODI setup and the need for having backups. “You need experience when you go into big tournaments. But when there are injuries, you just don’t know what you can do about it,” he said.
“Quite a few players are injured from our team but we try to identify players who are going to play in the World Cup and give them as many matches as possible so that they get the experience. Along with focusing on the playing XI, we need to focus on other 15-20 players too because anyone can get injured,” he added.
Shah said that with 12 ODIs left before the World Cup, the endeavour will be to have a consistency in selection. He made it clear that none of the World Cup-bound senior players will be selected for the three-match Ireland series. — Agencies
Kuldeep, Jadeja set up easy win for India
Skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli decided to give game time to the middle-order batters as India beat West Indies by five wickets in the opening ODI, riding on exploits from spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
After Jadeja (3/37 in 6 overs) and Kuldeep (4/6 in 4 overs) set it up beautifully, bowling out Windies for 114 in 23 overs, Ishan Kishan helped himself to a half-century (52 off 46 balls) in India’s successful chase in just 22.5 overs.
With 12 ODI matches in hand to find the perfect combination before the World Cup, Rahul Dravid and Sharma’s decision to allow the middle-order batters to express themselves was a welcome move.
While it didn’t exactly go as per plan for Suryakumar Yadav (19), who played a non-existent sweep shot, and Hardik Pandya (5), freakishly run out at the non-striker’s end, Kishan did his cause no harm with his fourth half-century.
The chase was never a problem but the wicket did offer a lot of turn apart from bounce which made life difficult for batters from both sides.
Brief scores: West Indies: 114 all out in 23 overs (Hope 43; Yadav 4/6, Jadeja 3/37); India: 118/5 in 22.5 overs (Kishan 52; Motie 2/26).
