Legendary Australian pacer Glenn McGrath backs Bumrah who receives tons of criticisms after BCCI named him as the captain of the Indian T20I squad for the Ireland tour 2023.
Glenn McGrath backs Bumrah following his return to international matches
Once tagged as India’s dangerous pacer, Jasprit Bumrah was sidelined from the Indian cricket team after the pacer was hit with a back injury. He was ruled out of action since September last year and missed the Indian Premier League 2023, Asia Cup 2022, and T20 World Cup and underwent back surgery.
Bumrah is currently in rehab and undergoing some practice matches under the supervision of a physio at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. BCCI had recently said Bumrah is bowling with full intensity and footage has now surfaced of Bumrah bowling to juniors in the practice match.
Bumrah who is set to return to the international match almost a year later needs to retain his form back to strengthen the Indian pacer attack. With a couple of high profiles tournaments around the year, fans and cricket experts expected Bumrah to regain his form back.
Though many questions regarding BCCI’s decision of naming him as the captain of the Ireland series straight out of his rehab, Glenn McGrath is optimistic about the star pacer making an instant impact for the Men In Blue in his comeback season.
“It depends on how the injury is and the sort of expectations he has. I think he will be fine since he is a quality bowler. The layoff will help him, I think. Fast bowlers need that layoff and time to get the strength back in their bodies.
It depends on the work he has done off the field, how his back is and if he has done anything to his action. I think he has been there before and he has achieved it,” McGrath said in a media interaction while visiting the MRF Pace Foundation academy in Chennai on Monday.
Jasprit Bumrah underwent surgery for his back injury in New Zealand in March this year and spent more than 2 months at NCA before returning to the Indian side for the Ireland T20I series.
“I haven’t seen him bowl. So, time will tell. Only he knows where he is now. So, I will be watching him keenly to see him get back to where he was. The effort and energy he puts in takes a toll on the body. If he has put enough work on the field, I can’t see a reason why he cannot go back to being where he previously was,” McGrath adds.
Bumrah has captained team India in a rescheduled Test match against England in July 2022, which could be a strong reason for being a competitor with Hardik Pandya to lead the T20I team during the Ireland tour.
“He’s got enough experience. He has enough games before the World Cup to test himself. Eleven months is a long time out of the game, but if you are coming off an off-season and you want to get into it, hopefully, that only takes a few games. Back when I played, we had an off-season. A break of two or 11 months doesn’t make much of a difference. It’s just about getting back into the swing,” McGrath added.
The first T20I match of the India tour of Ireland will be played on August 18 at The Village, Dublin. While the remaining 2 T20Is will be played on August 20 and August 23 at the same venue.
