NEWS
Follow UsJasprit Bumrah has been out of the national set-up for 10 months now, after the back injury he recurred during the T20I series against Australia in September 2022. Recently, the BCCI shared that Bumrah is in the final stages of his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and will play a few practice games before making a comeback to the national team.
In all probability, India’s tour of Ireland in mid-August will be the starting point for Bumrah’s road to World Cup, with India having the Asia Cup assignment right after the series. They are also slated to play Australia before the World Cup - an event that would provide crucial space for the team to finalize their plans for the quadrennial showpiece event in October and November.
Rohit Sharma sincerely hoped that Bumrah would be able to play a few matches before the World Cup to return to full match fitness and added that his recovery looks extremely promising.
"The amount of experience he (Bumrah) brings is very important. Right now he's coming from a serious injury and I've no idea if he'll travel to Ireland because the team hasn't been announced yet.
“If he gets to play then it's good and we hope he plays before the World Cup. When a player returns from a serious injury, match fitness, match feel are some key components, which are missing,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference in Bridgetown.
“We'll see what has been planned and everything depends on his recovery. We are in constant touch with the NCA and things look positive at the moment,” added Rohit.
In the last one year, Virat Kohli has been in excellent touch in the white-ball cricket, and last week, in Trinidad, he made his first overseas Test century in five years. Overall, Kohli has six international centuries in 10 months - a run that seemed impossible at the start of 2022. Rohit Sharma stated that Kohli doesn’t deserve any criticism and defended his former skipper by saying Kohli need not be told anything.
"Look I have answered this question a number of times. We don’t focus too much on what is being said on the outside as they don’t know what conversations we have within the team and we would like to keep it that way. Our focus remains on how to get the best out of every individual on the team and how to help the team win games and series. Now our focus is on the three one-dayers and giving players chances so I would want to keep myself involved with that," Rohit said.
"There are quite a few players in the team who have played so much cricket that they need not be told everything. They are more than capable of understanding their game and you need not go and tell them every single detail. Our job is to make the new players comfortable and help them get the best out of themselves. Our focus is only on those things that could be for the betterment of the team," the India captain further added.
India have failed to define roles for players and with the World Cup just two months away, they are still struggling to nail down the combination. However, Rohit insisted that they are looking to finalise the XI in the coming matches.
"It’s certainly a challenge because a number of players are fighting for a few spots. We have so many options be it batters or bowlers. So it is difficult for a captain and coach but it is just not me who goes through this as other teams also have to do this. What we see is who is able to perfectly fit the role that we are looking for. We look for those players who can fill the holes in the team by performing in the specific role," Rohit said.
