India get Jasprit Bumrah boost ahead of Asia Cup 2025 squad announcement; Suryakumar Yadav clears fitness test too
According to a Indian Express report, Bumrah has informed the BCCI selectors that he is available for selection. 'Bumrah has informed the selectors that he will be available for Asia Cup selection. The selection committee will meet and discuss it when they meet next week,' the newspaper quoted a source.
The inclusion of Bumrah will give an added edge to the Indian team in the competition, the squad of which is expected to be picked in Mumbai on August 19. Earlier, Bumrah, who played just three Tests out of five games in England, was released during the fifth Test at The Oval.
Although, the BCCI didn't reveal the exact reason of Bumrah's release during the Oval Test, several media reports stated that the premier India pacer was suffering from a knee injury and headed to Bengaluru's BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) for recovery.
With the Asia Cup 2025 to be played in T20I format, Bumrah need not to bowl long spells, thereby putting his workload management in check. In fact, there will be nearly a 40-day break for Bumrah between his last Test in Manchester and India's first match at Asia Cup 2025
India will start their Asia Cup 2025 campaign against UAE on September 10, followed by the mega encounter against Pakistan four days later. The Men in Blue round off their league campaign against Oman on September 19. The last time Bumrah played a T20I was the 2024 T20 World Cup final.
Meanwhile, a PTI report stated that Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav has cleared his fitness test at the CoE and is available for selection too. He will be attending the BCCI selection committee meeting on Tuesday in Mumbai. The swashbuckling batter, who last featured in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Mumbai Indians had undergone surgery for a sports hernia in the lower-right abdomen in Munich, Germany, in June.
"Fitness tests are mandatory before Return to Play (RTP) post-surgery. Surya has cleared the fitness test," a BCCI source told PTI. He has been at the CoE in Bengaluru for quite some time.
Meanwhile, it is understood that the Indian team will be flying out for UAE earlier than expected to accommodate with the conditions. Initially, the Indian team were to have a short camp in Bengaluru. But since they are without any match practice for more than a month before the Asia Cup, having a camp in UAE sounded a wise idea.
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