Bumrah ruled out Sri Lanka Test series

Premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is set to miss India’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka as he is yet to recover from his knee injury.

The swelling in his knee seems to be more serious than it initially looked and the Sports Science team at Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence doesn’t want to rush the seasoned pacer to the grind of international cricket, keeping in mind a packed calendar ahead.

The Sri Lanka series begins August 15 in Galle.

The 32-year-old had missed out on the third ODI against England at Lord’s after sustaining an impact injury. He recently reported at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru and was expected to be match-fit by the time series begins in two weeks. However, it has been learnt that Bumrah is still feeling some discomfort and even if he gets fit before August 15 or the second Test starting August 23, the medical team isn’t sure if Test match is correct format due to a massive workload on the docile tracks.

It will be interesting to see of selectors pick Jammu and Kashmir pacer Auqib Nabi or Vidarbha’s Yash Thakur as Bumrah’s replacement.

India are already without Nitish Kumar Reddy (hamstring), Harshit Rana (hamstring) and Washington Sundar (hamstring) will miss at least the first Test.