IND vs IRE: "Getting Match Fit Will Be Jasprit Bumrah's Biggest Challenge"- Pragyan Ojha

Published - 02 Aug 2023, 02:25 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:16 AM

Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah. (Photo: Getty Images)

Jasprit Bumrah will be making his international comeback after a gap of almost one year in the upcoming T20I series against Ireland. India play Ireland for three T20Is between August 18 to 23 with Bumrah set to lead the side.

The Indian pacer has been out of the Indian side since September 2022 and missed the T20 World Cup, the Border-Gavaskar series, and the WTC final for India. He was named in the Ireland T20I side for the Ireland series with the NCA giving him a clearance regarding his fitness.

Pragyan Ojha, the former Indian spinner, said that Bumrah needs to get his match fitness in this upcoming series against Ireland. In the absence of senior players like the captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the 29-year-old will lead the side in three-match series, which will also include Ruturaj Gaikwad as his deputy.

“The biggest challenge for him would be to get his match fitness. Because it has almost been a year (he last played a T20I in September), that could be a challenge for him. No matter how much fitness you do or net bowling you do, that is completely different from the match fitness. This is where he will be tested,” said Ojha on Bumrah, as quoted by New Indian Express.

With World Cup Around, Jasprit Bumrah Has To Play: Pragyan Ojha

He further said that if the Indian speedster avoids getting injured in the upcoming series it will be a good moral victory for BCCI and Bumrah himself.

“If he does well and doesn’t get any niggles back, that will be a victory for NCA, BCCI and Bumrah himself. With the World Cup in India he has to play because he adds value to the Indian side,” Ojha said.

He also spoke about Bumrah leading the side. The Indian pacer is the most experienced player in the Indian T20I squad that has been selected for the series. It also sees the comeback of Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna. The Karnataka pacer also recovered from his long-standing stress fracture that ruled him out of IPL 2023. He last played for India in August 2022.

“When you look at the squad selected against Ireland, there are a lot of youngsters. The senior-most player usually gets to be the captain. He has been the captain of the Indian side in Test and he loves responsibility. Having that responsibility gets the best out of him,” Ojha mentioned.

India’s T20I Squad For Ireland Seris

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

Tagged:

IND vs IRE 2023 India National Cricket Team India tour of Ireland 2023 Ireland National Cricket Team Jasprit Bumrah Pragyan Ojha
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