Jasprit Bumrah showed no signs of rustiness as he went full tilt at Rishabh Pant but the resurgent Prithvi Shaw looked far from being fit for international cricket during his session with trainer Nick Webb at India’s optional practice here on Tuesday.
Bumrah has been out with a stress fracture of the back and is expected to be available for the New Zealand tour next year while Shaw, after serving his eight-month doping ban, has already made a successful comeback for Mumbai in domestic cricket.
The Indian team management, as part of its policy, wanted to have “a word” with both players while checking their fitness levels.
A peek into the training session was an indicator that re-induction of a proven match-winner like Bumrah is just a matter of time.
He was given the Indian team’s training Jersey as he bowled for close to an hour to Pant, Manish Pandey and Mayank Agarwal at the nets.
There was no Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul during the optional training session.
With coach Ravi Shastri and national selector Devang Gandhi keeping a close eye, Bumrah didn’t show any visible discomfort as he worked up brisk pace to trouble Pant and Agarwal.
However, Shaw, wearing a plain T-shirt, had a chat with trainer Webb as he did the routine obstacle stuff. After that, he was asked to take some high catches given by fielding coach R Sridhar.
There were a few he didn’t attempt but overall he didn’t seem to have attained the peak fitness levels that captain Kohli demands from every member of the senior team.
Bumrah’s reintegration may be a matter of time but for Shaw, it might just be some more way to travel and runs alone won’t suffice.