He’s back. And his back seems to be just fine as Jasprit Bumrah bagged two wickets in his first over on return to international cricket after a 10-month hiatus that was forced due to a major back injury.
On Friday, in Dublin, Jasprit Bumrah became India’s 11th T20I captain when he marshaled the team in the middle for the first of the 3 T20I series against hosts Ireland.
This series was a much-awaited one for India as Jasprit Bumrah made his comeback ahead of the Asia Cup 2023. And his comeback was marked with a bang as he knocked over Ireland opener and senior batsman Andrew Balbirnie on just the second ball of the match. And three balls later, he had another senior batsman – wicket-keeper Lorcan Tucker, caught by wicket-keeper Sanju Samson.
Coming after a long injury layoff, the rust in Bumrah was evident as he went a bit too straight on the first ball which Balbirnie tucked on the leg-side for a four.
Jasprit Bumrah shrugged off that rust and got his radar spot on the very next ball: a length delivery outside the off-stump that nipped in sharply off the pitch, took the inside edge of Andrew Balbirnie’s bat, and rattled the top of the stumps.
It was all smiles and arms stretched from Jasprit Bumrah and the Indian fans cheered loudly, in Dublin and in their homes.
Watch: Jasprit Bumrah returns with a bang:
https://x.com/jiocinema/status/1692544078058234330?s=46
https://twitter.com/Adityakrsaha/status/1692537962175811901?s=20
Three balls later, Tucker, still on duck, tried to play a ramp shot but didn’t time it properly and gave an easy catch to wicket-keeper Sanju Samson.
Bumrah won the toss and elected to field first.
Teams:
Ireland (Playing XI): Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Benjamin White
India (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Ravi Bishnoi
