31 July,2023 08:34 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Jasprit Bumrah (Pic: Getty Images)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced the squad for the three-match T20I series against Ireland in Dublin.
Giving a fillip to India's pace bowling unit ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023, Jasprit Bumrah marked his return to the team as the captain for the series. He is returning from a long injury lay off.
India will play three T20Is against Ireland on August 18, 20 and 23.
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Bumrah, who underwent a surgery in New Zealand for a back injury, has been undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy for a while now, and the pace spearhead had recently bowled his full quota of 10 overs against visiting Mumbai side here at the Alur grounds.
He was out of action since September 2022 and missed the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. He also missed the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 where he represents Mumbai Indians.
There were deliberations about Bumrah's readiness to handle the twin responsibility of leader of pace attack and the team.
But PTI has learned that the 29-year-old was eager to don the dual role during the Ireland trip. Bumrah has the experience of leading the side as he had led India against England in the Birmingham Test last year.
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The selectors have also included Karnataka pacer Prasidh Krishna in the squad.
The right-arm quick last played for India in an ODI match against Zimbabwe in August last year before undergoing a surgery for stress fracture.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been named as the vice-captain of the side from which many regular members like Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill are absent. However, both Pandya and Gill are expected to return to action through the Asia Cup.
The only jarring point in the squad to Ireland is the continued absence of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
They are still under rehabilitation after their respective surgeries, and a time-frame has not been set for their return to top-flight cricket.
The BCCI had recently said that both Rahul and Shreyas have started batting at nets at the NCA and they were undergoing strength and fitness drills.
Meanwhile, the World Cup hopefuls will have a week-long training camp at the NCA ahead of their departure to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup. Their fitness levels too will be assessed during this camp.
India squad for T20I series against Ireland: Jasprit Bumrah (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
(With PTI inputs)
