PALLAKELE: India's Asia Cup opener against Pakistan at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Saturday was supposed to be Jasprit Bumrah's first ODI since July 14, 2022. Overcast conditions with intermittent rain and drizzle had tilted the balance in favour of pacers. The Pakistan pace troika of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah made full use of the conditions by sharing all ten wickets.
Bumrah, who underwent back surgery in March this year, would have been raring to go with the ball after his little cameo with the willow, scoring 16 off 14 when the clouds opened up. Unfortunately, the match never resumed with Bumrah making his ODI return but not bowling a single ball.
As he has flown back home from Colombo due to personal reasons, the pacer is set to miss India's match against Nepal, rain permitting, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Monday. Notably, he marked his international return last month after almost a year when he captained the Indian team in the T20I series against Ireland. But the match against Pakistan was supposed to be his first in the ODI format, which takes precedence with the ICC World Cup commencing in India from October 5.
Rohit Sharma and Co. can play a maximum six more matches at the Asia Cup if they reach the final. After the continental event, they will play Australia in a three-match ODI series before the World Cup begins. They will play two warm-up matches as well before the marquee event. With one match washed off and another skipped, the 29-year-old Gujarat pacer now has a maximum of seven matches to get his rhythm back and go full throttle at the marquee event.
The Indian captain had expressed satisfaction over Bumrah's progress ahead of the Pakistan clash. "Bumrah is coming back from an injury after such a long time. You know he played in Ireland and looked good. And the small little camp we had in Bangalore, he looked good as well. And yeah, he is looking in good spirits, that is a good sign for us," Rohit had said.
Bumrah led India to a series victory over Ireland last month bowling his full quota of four overs in both matches. He claimed two wickets each in two matches and was adjudged player of the match in the first T20I. As Rohit said, signs are good but Bumrah has yet not bowled 10 overs in an ODI, which can make the situation tricky as has happened in the recent past.
Last year in September, he was fast-tracked into the squad for the T20I series against Australia. He featured in the last two games bowling a total of six overs. He then missed the T20I series against South Africa before skipping the T20 World Cup.
In January this year, he was added to the India squad for ODIs against Sri Lanka after BCCI said that he had been declared fit by the NCA. But he complained of a stiff back during a practice session and was ruled out of the series. He eventually missed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well.
"It is difficult to stay out of the game for a long duration. I don’t want him to be put under pressure by setting expectations," Rohit had said when asked over his expectations from Bumrah. The captain might not want to put pressure on him but Bumrah knows he is the leader of the pack and has to lead by example during the ongoing Asia Cup and upcoming World Cup.
