– Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
Is Jasprit Bumrah fit to play for India? Cricket fans grappled with this question for weeks, months actually, after he was ruled out with injury in September. News of him being included in the squad for the Sri Lanka ODIs cheered them up. That, however, was short-lived because it emerged soon that India’s pace spearhead had not recovered fully yet.
That started another spell of anxious wait. Will he make the cut for the Tests against Australia, on which hinge India’s chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship final? One thought Bumrah was being preserved for the marquee series. But no. He is still not fit to be named in the squad for the first two Tests.
There is nothing unusual about a fast bowler suffering injury issues. Many experts had been saying for a while that the risk is more in case of someone like Bumrah because of his awkward action, which puts more stress on different parts of his body. But there is something grossly odd that a bowler is declared fit in early January and then adjudged unfit until at least the third week of February. If his condition is so uncertain, then why was he named in the side for the Sri Lanka ODIs?
That’s a question which will perhaps never be answered. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has not clarified this matter although it did release a statement saying Bumrah “is still building bowling resilience”, nor has the National Cricket Academy where Bumrah is undergoing rehabilitation. Actually, answers to questions like these are always hard to come by. It leads to speculations and rumours, but who cares!
If not anything else, this episode shows that the BCCI’s injury management and communication machineries are not at their best. First, you rule that someone is fit and then make a U turn. Was it a case of misjudgement? Was it that Bumrah was actually fit at the time of being named in the squad and then aggravated the injury? Or is it that he has suffered a fresh injury? As things stand, all possibilities are open. Who knows, there could also be something else.
Whatever it may be, it has to be accepted that Bumrah will in all likelihood not play non-stop for India anymore. He has a history of breaking down and at 29, it is unlikely that he will be at his physical best for a long time. There might be relapses every now and then. In a World Cup year, this is unpleasant news for the Indian team.