After a disappointing loss in the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) test in Adelaide, Indian players took the field and had their first training session for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. However, star Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah was absent which raised a lot of questions about his fitness and availability for the third test.
According to a report both Indian pacer Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj skipped the training session for workload management creating major unease for the Indian fans. In Adelaide Bumrah was seen struggling as he felt pain in his inner thighs but he continued to bowl.
Damien Fleming reacted to Bumrah skipping the practice session and stated, “There’s got to be some serious doubts. Siraj might be workload [related] but I’m bemused Bumrah bowled that over. They could have hid this”.
“There’s no way that’s cramp. He was very ginger after the break in the first innings. He bowled again, not quite as slow second innings. I don’t even know why he bowled that over [in the second innings]. That actually gave some secrets away to everyone,” he added.
Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel explained it was just a cramp and the pacer is “fine.” Bumrah picked an eight-wicket haul for India in the first test of the BGT and guided India to secure a historic win at Perth.
“Firstly, with Bumrah, he’s fine; it was just this cramp. Yeah, even because after that, you know, he bowled and you got the wickets twice,” Morkel said at the post-match press conference.
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Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
