“Bumrah, who was set to join the team in Guwahati ahead of the ODI series, will need some more time to build bowling resilience,” the BCCI said in a statement about withdrawing Bumrah from the ODIs against Sri Lanka. “This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure.”
“The pacer has undergone rehabilitation and has been declared fit by the NCA,” the BCCI had said when announcing Bumrah’s late inclusion for the series. “He will be joining the Team India ODI squad soon.”
The plan was for Bumrah to undergo match-simulation workloads at the NCA before making his international comeback, and it is understood that he passed that test in Bengaluru. However, when he took on similar workloads two days in a row in Mumbai, he felt stiffness in his side. Bumrah is now set to have rest and rehab with the aim being ready to join India’s preparatory camp, which is set to begin on February 1, for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. He will almost certainly miss the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand that begins on January 18.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-capt), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.