Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh heaped rich praises for fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who is set to make his international comeback in this month’s tour of Ireland, where he has also been named as the captain.
In the absence of both the rested captain and vice-captain, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the side for 3 T20I matches against Ireland in Dublin. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is the captain for the Asian Games, is named Bumrah’s deputy.
Bumrah has not played since September 2022 due to a back injury for which he had a surgery earlier this year. His absence was a big miss and hurt India in the T20 World Cup 2022, in the WTC Final 2023, and hurt Mumbai Indians as well in IPL 2023.
There is no bigger name than Bumrah: Harbhajan Singh
His return comes as a great news for Indian cricket ahead of the Asia Cup, which will start on August 30.
Bhajji is elated as well to see Bumrah make a return this month. Bhajji reserved high praise for his former Mumbai Indians teammate, saying that Jasprit Bumrah is the ‘Virat Kohli of bowling’.
“He has been missed a lot, whether you see the WTC final or the cricket that was played before that. I used to say earlier and am saying it today as well that if we talk about batting, we talk about Virat Kohli, and if there is a Virat Kohli of bowling, it is Jasprit Bumrah. There is no bigger name than him,” Harbhajan said.
Bumrah has captained India once before – in the Edgbaston Test against England in 2022 when Rohit and KL Rahul were injured.
With the ODI contingent given a rest to be fresh for the Asia Cup 2023, plenty of youngsters have been picked to face Ireland, including Rinku Singh, Jaiswal, Gaikwad, Tilak Varma while making their comeback are Dube and Sundar and Prasidh Krishna.
“Ruturaj Gaikwad will be this team’s vice-captain – well deserved. Then there is Yashasvi Jaiswal, he had to be there because he is a mighty player. Tilak Varma has been given an opportunity. Everyone’s beloved Rinku Singh has been given a chance. We expect to see his show in Ireland as well. Sanju Samson, Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube are there in the team,” Harbhajan added.
Team India squad for T20I series against Ireland: Jasprit Bumrah (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan
