India may not be able to convince Jasprit Bumrah to play the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy match against Australia with the precautionary withdrawal of the pacer from the three-match One-Day International series against Sri Lanka. Sources reported that Bumrah is unlikely to play in the entire limited-overs series against Australia and at least the first couple of Test matches. Bumrah was withdrawn from Sri Lanka ODIs on the eve of the series opener in Guwahati because the right-arm seamer was experiencing back pain. This occurred exactly one month prior to the first of the four Test matches against Australia, which will be played on February 9 in Nagpur.

In any case, Bumrah’s inclusion in the Sri Lanka series ODI squad came too late

After receiving approval from the National Cricket Academy (NCA), where Bumrah has been undergoing rehabilitation for some time, the selectors immediately drafted him into the team. However, during a match simulation training, the pacer noticed some discomfort on his back just as things were looking up for Bumrah and India.

The 29-year-old fast bowler passed the match simulation on the first day, but when the load was increased the following day, he complained of back pain. The management of the team made the immediate decision to remove him from the ODI squad without taking any chances and keeping in mind the Australia Tests, Asia Cup, and ODI World Cup. After a disastrous decision to expedite Bumrah’s return last year, which kept him out of the T20 World Cup, the physios and support staff are doubly concerned. After returning from a lengthy injury layoff in September, Bumrah only played a few Twenty20 Internationals against Australia before injuring his back once more.

However, Bumrah’s best chance of success is the final two Tests against Australia in Dharamshala and Ahmedabad in March, assuming everything goes according to plan. Bumrah had new bowling tests in Mumbai under the supervision of Nitin Patel, the head of the NCA’s sports science wing and the final authority on a player’s fitness clearance, after clearing those tests at the NCA last week. 

“After clearing those tests at the NCA last week, Bumrah had fresh bowling tests in Mumbai under the supervision of Nitin Patel, the head of NCA’s sports science wing and the final authority on a player’s fitness clearance. It was after those tests, combined with the scan results, that it was determined Bumrah would need more rehab time,”

the report said.

In addition, the report stated that Bumrah would need three additional weeks of rest before he could resume full-throttle bowling, effectively excluding him from the first half of the Australia Test series.

India captain Rohit Sharma stated that they must exercise extra caution when dealing with Bumrah due to the quality he brings to the table.

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“It’s an unfortunate incident with him [Bumrah]. The poor guy had been working very hard at the NCA all this time. Just when he got back to full fitness, he started bowling and everything, the last two days I think this incident happened where he felt a little bit of stiffness in his back. It’s nothing major, it’s just stiffness. [But] when Bumrah says anything we have to be very cautious about it. I thought it was important for us to make that decision then, to just pull him out. When we named him [in the squad], he was in the process of getting his workload done. We need to be very careful with him. He had a major injury before the [T20] World Cup. So we just need to be careful,”

he said ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka.