India pacer Jasprit Bumrah on Wednesday said he will come back stronger after recovering from the lower back injury that has ruled him out of the Test series against South Africa.
The 25-year-old was on Tuesday forced out owing to the injury that was caught in a routine radiological screening. The Test series against the Proteas starts on October 2 in Visakhapatnam.
“Injuries are part and parcel of the sport. Thank you all for your recovery wishes. My head is held high and I am aiming for a comeback that’s stronger than the setback,” Bumrah tweeted.
Umesh Yadav has replaced him in the India squad for the three matches. Bumrah is also likely to miss the upcoming T20s and Tests against Bangladesh next month.
The emergence of Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami as India’s first-choice fast-bowling combination has reduced Umesh’s opportunities of late, limiting him to only five Tests since the start of 2018. His last Test was in December 2018, against Australia. Bumrah had been rested from the recently-concluded Twenty20 series against South Africa, which ended in 1-1.
Meanwhile, in Vizianagaram, Rohit Sharma will make a last ditch effort to save his stop-start Test career with a trial run in the unfamiliar opener’s slot. Rohit will be leading the Board President’s XI in a three-day warm-up game beginning Thursday against South Africa.
With the national selection committee and the team management deciding to promote Rohit as an opener, the next five Tests could be a make or break for the 32-year-old stylish right-hander. He will have Mayank Agarwal for company as the two would look to strike an understanding before the first Test.
The third notable character in the game would be Umesh who will look to rattle the likes of Faf Du Plessis and Aiden Makram in order to make a statement. But the focus will undoubtedly be on Rohit. One of the best in the white-ball format, Rohit’s average of 39.62 in 27 Tests, including three hundreds, doesn’t do justice to his potential.
The three-day game against the quality red-ball attack of South Africa, comprising Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Lungi Ngidi, will be a good dress rehearsal before the Visakhapatnam Test. Rohit’s technique against the moving red SG, Dukes or Kookaburra has been a suspect but this is an inspired punt that Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri are ready to take keeping Virender Sehwag’s stupendous success in mind.
