Jasprit Bumrah, who is all set to make a comeback in the national team in the Twenty-20 International (T20I) series against Sri Lanka, will turn out for Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 match against Kerala to prove his fitness.
Bumrah has been out of action since September due to a stress fracture but has been named in India’s squads which will face Sri Lanka in the T20I series and for the One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia.
Bumrah had made his first-class debut for Gujarat in 2013. In 38 matches, he has taken 151 wickets at an average of around 23. India’s number one bowler at the moment, Bumrah has played 12 Tests, 58 ODIs and 42 T20Is and already has 216 international wickets.
Earlier, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly refused to take the fitness test of Bumrah in Bengaluru.
Reportedly, Bumrah, who was seen bowling at the Team India nets in Visakhapatnam ahead of the second One Day International (ODI) between India and West Indies, was “politely” told by NCA that they would not be conducting his fitness test.
The NCA, led by director Rahul Dravid and physiotherapist Ashish Kaushik was not convinced about how they were eligible to conduct the test since the Indian pacer did not undergo the recovery program there and was instead under the supervision of his own set of specialists.
The reason given by David as reported by Times of India was, “If NCA hasn’t treated Bumrah, how can it give him a certificate that he’s fit to play? What if tomorrow something happens? How can the NCA agree to certify something about which it doesn’t have a clue?”
However, Dravid had later clarified, “He was told to get whoever he wanted and do the test here. Last minute, you land up and ask us to conduct fitness test (but) how can we? Nobody knows his case. NCA trainers have not trained with him even one day, they have not treated him for four months. How can they be asked to conduct the test?”