India's premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was seen bowling with the red ball at his practice session in Ahmedabad, signalling his preparation for the upcoming gruelling. The pace spearhead shared pictures of his intense training session, including bowling with the red SG ball, on his Instagram account on Sunday, even as his team-mates from the Gujarat domestic set-up watched on.
In the last few days, Bumrah has been training with his domestic team-mates like Chintan Gaja at the Gujarat College ground after a brief post-IPL break. Bumrah has been rested from the T20I series against Ireland and England, but is scheduled to play in the three-match series against England starting on July 14 in Birmingham, and is followed by games in Cardiff (July 16) and Lord’s (July 19).
The ODI series in England will be the first time Bumrah will be seen in the 50-over format since the 2023 ODI World Cup final. After that, Bumrah missed out on playing in ODIs due to workload management reasons. He was also rested from the one-off home Test and three ODIs against Afghanistan in June, but will feature in the Asian Games men’s T20 cricket games in Japan in September.
From a red-ball perspective, Bumrah’s services will be much needed when India plays a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to be held from August 15 to 27, with matches at Galle and Colombo. Both matches are scheduled to commence at 10am local time.
This will be followed by a challenging two-match away Test series against New Zealand starting on November 19. With India at fifth spot in the WTC standings with a points percentage (PCT) of 48.15 after nine matches, Bumrah's form will be absolutely vital in increasing their chances of sealing a spot in the ultimate title clash.
In Tests, Bumrah has picked 234 wickets in 52 matches, while taking 149 scalps in 89 ODI games. The Test tour of Sri Lanka will be the first time Bumrah will play red-ball games in the island nation.