News18 CricketNext reported on June 18 about Jasprit Bumrah’s return for the T20Is vs Ireland; fit-again Prasidh Krishna adds spark to pace battery.
In a big boost to the Indian cricket team ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup, Jasprit Bumrah is back for the T20I series against Ireland from August 18. The seamer will lead the 15-member squad for the three fixtures.
News18 CricketNext was the first to report about Bumrah’s return to action for the tour of Ireland. As stated in the June 18 report, Bumrah at peak fitness and bowling at full tilt will be seen in the Indian blues very soon.
The 29-year-old last played for India back in September 2022 and has been putting in the hard yards at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) under the watchful eyes of VVS Laxman for the last two months. Bumrah featured in some practice games at the NCA before the men who matter gave him the green signal for return.
With not much time left for the Asia Cup and World Cup, two very important white-ball tournaments this year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would have taken a sigh of relief and will now hope Bumrah 2.0 delivers the goods.
The T20Is vs Ireland were always looked at as the ideal fixtures for Bumrah’s return as after a long injury lay-off, T20s would have eased him back into the set-up and prepped him for the bigger battles (read 50-over matches) ahead. All eyes will now be on the three matches when a fully fit Bumrah runs in to bowl for India after nearly a year.
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PRASIDH KRISHNA RETURN SPARKS PACE BATTERY
In a double delight, lanky seamer Prasidh Krishna too has staged a return to the Indian cricket team. He too had been out of action since August last year and underwent back surgery before taking the long rehab road.
With his ability to control most periods of the game, Krishna’s return will give a lot of options to the Indian team management for the Asia Cup and World Cup as the seamer is sharp with the new ball and has the necessary control in the death overs too.
HARDIK PANDYA, SHUBMAN GILL, ISHAN KISHAN RESTED
On expected lines, the trio of Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan has been rested for the three fixtures. Both Gill and Kishan have been on the road for most part of the year and Pandya too needs to keep his body fresh for the important white-ball assignments.
They will feature in the five T20Is vs West Indies and will then take a mini break before returning to action for the Asia Cup, ODIs vs Australia and then the 50-over World Cup.
ASIA CUP SQUAD MEMBERS INCLUDED
Most members from India’s squad for the Asia Cup have been included for the Ireland series and it will allow them to get a decent hit before the prestigious tournament gets underway. The likes of Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube were impressive in the IPL and were rewarded with an Asia Cup call.
A good show against Ireland will allow the IPL performers to remain in the scheme of things as Team India would shift focus towards the T20 World Cup next year. A young Indian team under Hardik Pandya is likely to feature in a multi-nation event from June next year and India’s home season is dominated by the T20Is as the side will not play any ODI match till the T20 World Cup.
Team India (Senior Men) squad for T20I series against Ireland: Jasprit Bumrah (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan
