Bumrah, who is about to miss IPL 2023 and the ICC final World Trials Championship (if India qualify), will return to bowling and training by August to prepare for the ICC World Cup, which is scheduled to be held at home from October to November later this year.
Bumrah has not played competitive cricket since September last year when he withdrew in the clean-ball series against South Africa at home. His removal from the series was due to a stress reaction in his lower back. He attempted a comeback in the January home series against Sri Lanka but back problems didn’t let that happen either.
BCCI medical staff at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru had treated his case urgently and suggested the pacemaker to undergo surgery. The decision to operate was made by the BCCI in coordination with the pacemaker and the NCA.
The wait has been frustrating for Bumrah, who has tried to come back more than once since suffering a back injury in August which ruled him out of the Asian Cup. Initially, the injury didn’t seem serious as he was named in India’s T20 World Cup squad in September and even played in the last two T20Is against Australia on September 23-25.
Three days later, Bumrah sat out the first T20I against South Africa and it was learned he had been taken in for scans, which revealed a stress-related injury to his back. He was rushed to the NCA and tests there confirmed the injury was serious. This ruled him out of the T20 World Cup, in which India finished in the semi-finals.
Bumrah returned to rehab in November and began performing in mid-December. His progress looked positive as he was added to the streak of white balls contested in January more than a week after the original team was selected.
Bumrah had performed the mock match drills in the NCA, but the discomfort resurfaced when taking on higher workloads during the fitness drills in January. Scans revealed the development of a new problem, which ruled him out of the Sri Lanka series and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
Indian team management and skipper Rohit Sharma want Bumrah to return to the side only after he regains full fitness, with Rohit warning against the pacemaker’s hasty return to the squad.
(With ANI inputs)
