Jasprit Bumrah could be headed to New Zealand to undergo a surgery for his troublesome back. The medical team of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the managers of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) have zeroed in on a Kiwi surgeon, who had worked on Jofra Archer, and the arrangements are being made on a war footing to have the pacer flown to Auckland at the earliest.
The current impression is that Bumrah’s recovery period will be between 20 and 24 weeks. The immediate implication is that he could be out of action till September, missing the IPL and the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) in London, should India qualify, in the process. Bumrah has been out of action for the last five months.
CricAdvisor was first to report, on February 26, that Bumrah could be facing the prospect of a long break from cricket, and is even doubtful for the Asia Cup (in August-September). The current priority of the BCCI management is to get him ready for the World Cup in October-November.
It is learnt that the surgeon, Rowan Schouten, who is based in Christchurch, will operate on Bumrah. Schouten, in the past, had worked with Grahame Inglis, a renowned surgeon in the field of orthopedics. Inglis had operated upon a few New Zealand players, including Shane Bond – the bowling coach of Mumbai Indians, who is likely to have suggested Schouten’s name.
Schouten is famous in the sporting circles and is considered to be the best in the business, knowing how to go about the procedure. Schouten had assisted Inglis in the surgery of Australian pacer James Pattinson while he also handled the surgery of Ben Dwarshuis and Jason Behrendorff who had also struggled with back issues, besides of course, Archer. Cricbuzz tried to reach out to the officials of the BCCI, NCA and the player himself.
Why Umesh preferred to Shami in Indore
Meanwhile, the Indian team is readying for life without Bumrah, albeit for an ephemeral period, and that could be the reason why Umesh Yadav was fielded in the Indian XI in the on-going Test against Australia in Indore.
Sources in the team said that the management wanted to provide a chance to Umesh keeping an eye on the WTC final in June. If he were not to be given a chance in India, he would have had to play a Test after a lengthy time. In that sense, the decision to include Umesh is to give him an exposure in a Test match rather than actually to rest Shami.
