Bumrah clears fitness test; set to play Sri Lanka Test series

India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been cleared to play next month’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka by the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Bumrah was picked subject to fitness as he had suffered an impact injury during the recent ODI series against England. He had to sit out of the third ODI at Lord’s due to the injury.

“Jasprit Bumrah has recovered from his impact injury. He has cleared the fitness Tests mandated by the COE. Hopefully he will be available for both games as he is integral to the team’s plans,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

The two-Test series against the islanders will get underway on August 15 in Galle, and the second match will be played in Colombo from August 23.

India need to win seven of their remaining nine Tests of this World Test Championship cycle in order to remain in contention for a summit clash berth.

Winning the Sri Lanka series by a 2-0 margin is very important before embarking on an away series against New Zealand, which is expected to be a tough assignment.

Already, India are without the services of Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy, who are out with hamstring and quadriceps injuries respectively.

Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the first Test with a hamstring injury, and Akash Deep is in the middle of a long lay-off following stress reactions on his back.