IND vs IRE: A fit & fine Jasprit Bumrah is back in the squad! Yes, you have read it right India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will return for Ireland’s T20I series to be held in August. He will lead the series as a Captain. There comes another major boost as India’s other prolific pacer Prasidh Krishna too will feature in the three-match T20I series in Dublin.
For the unversed Bumrah was out of action since India’s T20Is series against Australia in September 2022 due to a back injury. He then underwent surgery for his back injury in New Zealand & was sent to NCA to complete his rehabilitation. He has been recovering at the NCA for the past two months where he has been increasing his bowling workloads step-by-step to get back to rhythm. Bumrah has also participated in a few practice matches with the NCA staff & is reportedly doing well. Even NCA head VVS Laxman is satisfied with his progress & has given him the green signal to feature in the Ireland T20I series.
IND vs IRE: Why Jasprit Bumrah will lead in the Ireland T20I series?
As per reports from ESPNcricinfo, initially, the management was thinking of giving captaincy responsibilities of Ireland T20Is to Ruturaj Gaikwad was named Captain of Indian team for the Asian Games 2023. But Bumrah was keen to lead the team in the Ireland T20Is & thus management decided to give him Captaincy Responsibilities for the series. Previously Bumrah led India in Birmingham Test 2022 before getting injured & staying out of action for a year. Management wanted to manage Bumrah’s workload but as the pace spearhead wanted to lead the Indian team he was handed the responsibility.
Prasidh Krishna to return for T20I series
There comes another boon for the Indian team as Prasidh Krishna is all set to return to action after completing his long-standing rehabilitation for a lumbar stress fracture which he sustained during the India tour of Zimbabwe in August 2022. Initially, he didn’t undergo surgery & was working towards full recovery before Ranji Trophy 2023. He was advised of surgery in December after undergoing another assessment.
At the time when Prasidh Krishna suffered an injury he was emerging as an effective bowler in the middle overs in the ODI format, thanks to his perfect height pace & hard lengths. Last week BCCI said that Bumrah & Prasidh are doing well & are bowling with full intensity in net sessions. This means India’s fast bowling stocks are on the rise with two of their senior pacers returning to action.
But there is some bad news for the Indian Team as their senior injured players KL Rahul & Shreyas Iyer continue their rehabilitation & have been excluded from the T20I series. This is because they are still rehabilitating in NCA and are not yet ready to face the workload of an international fixture.
IND vs IRE: Emerging talents to feature in Ireland T20Is series
The selection committee has picked players for the Ireland T20I series who have been named in the squad selected for the Asian Games 2023. Apart from Gaikwad, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube & Rinku Singh also received a call-up in the national team based on their spectacular performances in IPL 2023.
For the unversed, Gaikwad was the star performer for CSK returning with crucial runs in almost every fixture. He was the second-highest run-scorer for CSK in IPL 2023. with 560 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 147.50. Meanwhile, Rinku too turned the heads around with his impressive knocks in the death overs for KKR. His standout knock against Gujarat Titans where he hit five consecutive sixes off 6 balls in the death overs has scripted his name in the history of IPL. While Shivam Dube & Jitesh Sharma too have provided breakthroughs to their teams in IPL. It’s the fruits of these players’ hard work that they received call-ups to feature in India’s National Team.
Meanwhile, ODI regulars are rested for the series to prepare for the Asia Cup 2023 beginning on August 30. The marquee event will begin on August 30 just a week after the final clash of the Ireland series which will be played on August 23. Team Management is also considering hosting a conditioning camp in Bengaluru before their departure to Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, seven members of India’s squad who played in the West Indies T20I series such as Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh will feature in India’s squad for Ireland series. Spin bowlers such as Bishnoi, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Washington Sundar have also made a cut in India’s T20I squad for the Ireland series.
Let’s have a look at India’s Squad for Ireland T20I series
Jasprit Bumrah (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
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