“Jasprit Bumrah was unable to bend…there are one or two players who take injection” - Chetan Sharma – Reports
Chetan Sharma has reportedly put a question mark on India speedster Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup at home. The BCCI Chief Selector claimed that certain players used performance-enhancing injections to show that they were fit to play.
It's worth mentioning that Bumrah suffered a back injury that ruled him out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. He also missed out on the white-ball series New Zealand (away and home) and Sri Lanka.
The pacer was expected to make his comeback during the recently concluded white-ball series against New Zealand. However, the BCCI decided against it as a precautionary measure ahead of the ICC ODI WC 2023 on home soil. Bumrah also missed out on the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Speaking to Zee News during a sting operation, Chetan Sharma said:
"Jasprit Bumrah was unable to bend as he had a major injury other than that there are one or two players who take injections in private and say that they are fit to play"
He added:
"I am talking about injections. If they take pain-killer then it will come under doping. Team India players are aware of which injections come in anti-doping. The players are not fit but they take injections to play. They are ready to play even at 80% fitness. They take injections and start playing."
“We have to manage the workload” – Chetan Sharma on Jasprit Bumrah
Last year, Chetan Sharma said the selection committee was working on workload management while ruling Jasprit Bumrah out of the T20 World Cup 2022. He also justified why the pacer was rested for the New Zealand and Bangladesh series ahead of the marquee event.
For the uninitiated, Bumrah last played for India in a T20I against Australia in the second T20I in September last year.
Back then, Chetan Sharma told a press conference:
"Definitely, I say it every time that we have to manage the players and when we do that, the media ends up writing about how different players are playing in the lineup with different captains. We have to manage the workload.
"We hurried up with Jasprit Bumrah a bit, we tried as the World Cup was coming and see what happened. We are without Jasprit Bumrah for this World Cup.”
He added:
“The NCA and medical team are looking after him very well and he definitely will be a part of the team very soon. There is so much cricket, we have to keep looking after the bodies of our players. Bumrah will be back soon, NCA is working with him.”
Bumrah, who is undergoing rehabilitation, is likely to make his Team India comeback with a three-match ODI series against Australia next month.