It will be a miracle if Jasprit Bumrah regains fitness for the fourth Test: Sources
PTI reported earlier in the day Jasprit Bumrah would miss the fourth Test against Australia because of an abdominal strain. However, there has been no official word on Bumrah's injury yet. The right-arm pacer suffered the strain during the third Test with subsequent scans hinting he would not be fit to play in Brisbane.
The team's sources informed Times of India on Tuesday (January 12) that Jasprit Bumrah could hardly walk on Monday. The source added Jasprit was in bad shape and was unlikely to regain full fitness before the final Test.
Injuries have already ruled out KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Hanuma Vihari, and Ravindra Jadeja of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21. It seems like Jasprit Bumrah could become the next name to join the long list.
"He (Jasprit Bumrah) had complained of some discomfort during the third Test in Sydney. But he soldiered on. Now, he looks in very bad shape after the Test finished on Monday. It will be a big call to push him to play the next match. He could barely walk on Monday evening. It will be a miracle if he regains fitness for the match on Friday," said the source.
Among the fast bowlers of both teams, Jasprit Bumrah has bowled the most overs in this series. The Indian fast bowler has bowled 117.4 overs, scalping 11 wickets at an economy rate of 2.74.
Indian team management looking to risk Jasprit Bumrah for a spot in ICC World Test Championship final
The Indian cricket team is currently at the second position on the ICC World Test Championship standings. However, the gap between them and the third-placed New Zealand cricket team is only 0.2% points. The report further stated the management calculated the permutations for a spot in the tournament and thus even planned to risk Jasprit Bumrah for the final match. Still, the source mentioned it is unlikely that the fast bowler would feature in the Indian playing XI at the Gabba.
"The call that the management needs to take is if they are willing to risk Bumrah aggravating his injury. What happens if he breaks down in the middle of the match? Thus, it looks highly unlikely that he will be played at the Gabba at the moment," the source concluded.