Lasith Malinga Reckons Jasprit Bumrah Could Struggle On His Return From Injury

The return of Jasprit Bumrah will massively boost the Indian team ahead of the series against Sri Lanka and the T20 World Cup in the long run. The lanky pacer has not donned the Indian colours since September last year due to stress fracture and would be looking forward to making a telling impact. Ahead of their showdown against Sri Lanka, the opposing captain Lasith Malinga feels that he might struggle on his return to the fold.

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In Bumrah’s absence, the men in blue have struggled marginally in limited-overs cricket. They won the ODI and T20I series against West Indies; however, the Indian bowling attack looked toothless at times. In the last two months, the BCCI has stayed cautious in managing his workload. Board’s President Sourav Ganguly didn’t even let the pacer play in the Ranji Trophy to help him recover better.

Malinga, his teammate in Mumbai Indians, holds the belief that he has got the skill and accuracy. At the same time, he opines that returning after four months wouldn’t be easy and that they will use it to their advantage. He further stated that he would help his batsmen all about his skills and attitude, but they will have to be cunning in dealing with him.

“He’s got the skill and accuracy. But coming after the injury when you don’t play much cricket for last four months, the bowlers struggle to get into the rhythm for the first few matches. We want to use that to our advantage. I can pass all the information of his attitude and bowling skill. But batsmen will have to be smart enough to handle him carefully.” the 36-year old said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

BCCI posts a video of Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance with the ball:

Ahead of the first T20I at the Barasapara Stadium in Guwahati, the 26-year old was seen clattering the stumps in the training session. Along with posting the video on Twitter, the BCCI stated the caption as “Missed that sight anyone?” Indeed, the men in blue would have missed him after marginally defeating the men from the Caribbean in the white-ball series.

Missed this sight anyone? ???
How's that from @Jaspritbumrah93 #TeamIndia #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/hoZAmnvE2k

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 3, 2020

The Gujarat-pacer is also on the cusp of finishing India’s leading wicket-taker in T20 internationals. Currently, Bumrah has 51 scalps from 42 games. He needs only two wickets to surpass Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, both of who possess 51 under their belt.

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