Jasprit Bumrah back in T20Is: Is BCCI taking another risk?

Star India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been recalled to the Indian squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. Bumrah marks his return to the team after missing out on playing in the Sri Lanka Tests due to a knee injury he picked up during the ODI series against England.

The speedster has had a long history of injuries, having lost several years of cricketing action in his peak years. His time away from the game made him lose his top rank in the ICC Test bowling rankings.

While Bumrah continues to operate with his fragile body, putting in the hard yards for the team time and again, his selection for Sri Lanka T20Is has sparked discussions in the cricketing fraternity. After playing three T20Is against Afghanistan, Bumrah will next feature in the Asian Games T20 tournament, with another white-ball home series against West Indies scheduled after that.

India then have a full-fledged tour to New Zealand, where they will play the all-important two-match Test series, which is crucial to their World Test Championship (WTC) final hopes. The BCCI has been quite vocal about the team’s priorities over the next one year, mentioning that their sole focus is on the WTC final and the ODI World Cup 2027.

No major T20I tournament until 2028

With no major T20 tournament set to be played until 2028, Bumrah’s return in the T20I side has become a bone of contention. Given India’s bleak chances of making it to the WTC final, Bumrah’s services are heavily required in red-ball cricket, especially after the recently drawn second Test in Sri Lanka, where the Indian bowling looked listless on the final day.

Hence, the inclusion of Bumrah in T20Is seems quite bizarre with his long injury list. Another injury to the speedster in the upcoming white-ball matches could potentially put his WTC final and ODI World Cup appearances in danger.

In 2022 as well, Bumrah was made to push hard ahead of the T20 World Cup. However, he had to sit out for an entire year and only returned ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023. He did make a brilliant comeback to international cricket, becoming the world’s number one Test bowler and helping India win back-to-back T20 World Cups.

BCCI on managing players' injuries

However, Jasprit Bumrah’s injuries have become a big headache for the team in recent times, given the team’s overdependence on the speedster. BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia recently opened up on the board’s protocol to bring injured players back into action in international cricket, amid several injury concerns in the team.

“We have a protocol in place for how a player can come back to international cricket again. So, when a player is injured, he goes to his own physio or comes through the rehab program to COE. Before being a part of the Indian team, there are certain measures that they have to take and certain hurdles a player has to cross. So those kinds of things, we’ve revisited today and whatever the best way we can do to ensure players get no injury in international matches. There was no discussion on any individual player,” Saikia told the media after the BCCI review meeting in Mumbai.

Bumrah has been arguably the most valuable player for the team over the past 6 years, due to his match-winning prowess across formats. It remains to be seen how BCCI plans his workload, given another busy cricketing calendar ahead.

List of tournaments Jasprit Bumrah has missed due to injuries