India speedster Jasprit Bumrah is all set to be in action again. However, he will lead the team against Ireland in the shortest format as well. Ahead of the series, he opened up on his injury layoff and upcoming plans as well. Notably, Bumrah suffered a back injury in September 2022 and missed the ODI series against Sri Lanka then. Later, he underwent surgery for his back injury in New Zealand in March and he has been on the road to recovery since then, missing all the action earlier.
“All good. Very happy to be back. Been working really hard at the NCA. It’s been a long road but everything is good, my body feels good and I’m looking forward to playing some cricket,” Jasprit Bumrah said. “Feels nice to be back. I want game time and it’ll be great to play again so I am looking forward to it. I was obviously looking forward to coming back. I met a lot of players too at the NCA when they were coming. Sometimes some things are not in your hands. The body needs time for recovery and you need to respect that. Then when you come back there’s a lot of hunger because when you play cricket continuously you don’t even know what an off-season is like.”
“So in this phase when my physical restrictions were done, I was only looking to work on my bowling and work on the strength of my body. I was doing that and also following how India’s cricket was going on. Now when I met players it felt good because it happened after a long time. It’s nice. Some players have come from the West Indies and they’re confident so it felt good,” Bumrah further added.
READ MORE: Harbhajan Singh says Australia have the upperhand in the WTC final
However, Bumrah’s return to complete fitness will be helpful for India as two big mega events are coming up with Asia Cup later this month and a home ODI World Cup in October-November as well.
“I was bowling normally [in the nets]. It’s not like I am holding back. I am enjoying it quite a lot. I’ve done a lot of net sessions here. When my rehabilitation ended, I went home too and even practiced with the Gujarat team. I’ve done a lot of net sessions in a lot of places, and even played a lot of practice matches. So it’s not like I am bowling with a restriction or I am holding back. Obviously when you’re with the Indian team and here where the weather is good, you enjoy bowling. I am not holding back, the body feels good and I’m looking forward to the games coming up,” Jasprit Bumrah again shared.
However, Jasprit Bumrah missed the IPL this year and the World Test Championship after that and there was uncertainty about his return on time as well. Bumrah also added that he focused on finding solutions for the setback he had dealt with so far as well.
READ MORE: Sanjay Manjrekar dissects Virat Kohli’s poor show in WTC Final
“At times, when the injury takes time to fully heal it can get frustrating. But instead of having self-doubts that maybe I won’t recover, I was only thinking about how to get better and how quickly I can get back to the field. Obviously, it is important that when the body needs time, you respect it. I never thought like it’s all over or these are my dark days… I wasn’t thinking too far. There were problems so I was thinking how I can solve them. Once the solutions came around, I was feeling good that I will slowly come back now and work my way up. That’s what I was focussing on. After that all processes cleared and I am back and I am very happy to be back,” he again said.
“In my rehabilitation as well, I was never preparing for a T20 game, I was always preparing for a World Cup competition… so I have been bowling 10, 12.. even 15 overs. I have bowled more overs so it becomes easier to bowl less than what is required. We had kept that in mind that we are preparing for a one-day competition so not to prepare for a four over competition… then it becomes difficult for you to jump on and prepare and bowl more. Fatigue can come in. I was preparing for a one-day competition, I have a lot of overs under my belt. Now I’m looking forward to the game time and working my way up,” Jasprit Bumrah concluded.
