Bumrah, Jadeja Fit But Not Rushed by Selectors For Sri Lanka Series; Pant Sent to NCA: Report

New Delhi, Dec 28: With India’s home season set to start with a white-ball series against Sri Lanka on January 3 but there were no mentions of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant in T20I as well as ODI squads.

As per an ESPNCricinfo report, Bumrah and Jadeja were available for selection in the Sri Lanka series, but the selection committee which announced the squad on Tuesday night, decided that the duo, who have been on the sidelines for a long time, will not be rushed back into the national team.

“They want to simulate training for him that replicates the workload of a proper match, and see how he holds up before he is brought back to international cricket,” said the report on Bumrah, who has been out of action since the back injury reoccurred during T20Is against Australia in September.

Jadeja, on the other hand, had been named in the ODI and Test squads for the Bangladesh tour. But was withdrawn from both squads as his recovery from knee injury post surgery in September was still under way. “The selectors now want to see him in match simulation just to be sure of his match fitness,” added the report.

There is also Pant, whose name was absent from the white-ball squads for the series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. But the report says that the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter is being sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for strength and conditioning before the four-match Test series against Australia.

“The team management feels he will have a key role to play in the Tests, and needs this housekeeping break after playing 44 internationals this year,” further said the report. India has to win three of four Tests against Australia to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the second successive time.

Regular India skipper Rohit Sharma, who has been out of action since suffering a blow on left thumb while fielding in the second ODI against Bangladesh, has started batting in the nets. He is expected to be fully fit by the end of the first week of January, in time for the ODI series against Sri Lanka, making him unavailable for the T20Is starting January 3.

On the other hand, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli have been rested after playing in the full tour of Bangladesh. Though neither of them asked for the break, the selectors felt they needed the rest.

Another point of concern for India going into 2023, which is an ODI World Cup year, is the unavailability of Prasidh Krishna. With his height, pace and hard lengths, he was seen as the enforcer for ODIs in India.

But Prasidh sustained a back injury on the eve of India A’s series against New Zealand in September, and the report said the pacer is yet to recover from it. Prasidh’s injury has meant Mohammed Shami is back in ODIs after missing the tour of Bangladesh due to shoulder injury, with Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik named in the ODI squad as well.