IND vs IRE: Lakshmipathy Balaji Fires Warning To Jasprit Bumrah Ahead Of His Comeback

Former India fast-bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji has fired a timely warning to Jasprit Bumrah as the latter gears up to make his much-awaited return to competitive cricket.

All eyes will be on Jasprit Bumrah when the three-match T20I series between India and Ireland gets underway this week. Jasprit Bumrah has been named in the squad as well as appointed the captain for the second-string Indian team. He will be returning to action after almost a year.

Jasprit Bumrah has not played an international match for Team India since September last year. His last appearance came during the T20I series against Australia at home before he was sidelined with a back injury. The star pacer was named in the squad for the ODI series against Sri Lanka at the start of the year but pulled out after experiencing pain again.

In March, he had to undergo surgery in New Zealand before going to the National Cricket Academy for extended rehabilitation. The pacer is now all set to don the Indian jersey and mark his return to international cricket. The first T20I between India and Ireland is scheduled to take place on Friday (August 18).

Lakshmipathy Balaji on Jasprit Bumrah’s return:

With Jasprit Bumrah’s comeback game just a couple of days away, Lakshmipathy Balaji has opened up on the challenges that a player faces after undergoing surgery. The former cricketer began by pointing out that the comeback would not be very smooth and everything will be new for Jasprit Bumrah.

“Any back surgery, it’ll have some little bit of hiccups here and there. But that is the maximum you can do. For conservative healing, if it has not healed, and you have the surgery option and to take it and then come back, it’s the last stage… So, everything is going to be new (for him), and again getting back, there will be challenges, but that is what makes individuals perform higher,” Balaji was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

India squad for Ireland T20Is: 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