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India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dropped major hint on Jasprit Bumrah’s chances of playing in the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023 that is slated to be organised in India in the months of October and November. Jasprit Bumrah has been out of action since July 2022, except for two T20Is against Australia in September 2022. The star India pacer suffered a lower back stress fracture during India’s tour of England. He was rushed back to the Australia series in hopes of getting him fit for the T20 World Cup.
However, after missing out the T20 World Cup, Bumrah underwent a surgery in New Zealand in March this year. He was expected to make a return in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but later it was revealed that he wasn’t ready yet. Given the importance of Bumrah in the Indian squad, the team management decided to not rush his return. There have been reports that Bumrah will play in the Asia Cup, and his performance will decide his fate in the bigger tournament later this year. Ashwin shared a spoiler on Bumrah’s return while talking about the much-anticipated India vs Pakistan clash at Narendra Modi Stadium on October 15.
On his YouTube channel Ashwin said, “The last few games between India and Pakistan in the ICC events have been extraordinary, to say the least. I think we can expect another blockbuster India-Pakistan game. It’s going to be a very equally balanced game because Pakistan also has a quality seam attack. For India, obviously, we expect Bumrah, maybe even Prasidh… all these guys to be fit. I don’t know what the combination is going to look like but all in all, a great contest on hand.”
Notably, Bumrah missed all three India vs Pakistan T20Is from last year, which included two games at the Asia Cup and one during the T20I World Cup. Given that he is fit to play in the Asia Cup 2023, he will surely play the upcoming India vs Pakistan matches slated later this year.
