Jasprit Bamra will not face Sri Lanka in the three-game ODI series starting Tuesday. A source at India’s Cricket Control Board (BCCI) said he received a call not to take any hasty action. He is not one of the first players to reach his ODI venue, Guwahati.
BCCI previously said the 29-year-old Bumrah was added to the ODI on the recommendation of the All India Selection Committee. In his January 3 media release, the BCCI said, “The All India Senior Selection Committee has included Pacer Jasprit Bumla in his ODI squad for India in the upcoming Mastercard 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. I said. Bumrah has not played cricket since September 2022 and has also been ruled out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup due to a back injury. He will soon join the Team India ODI team,” BCCI said.
However, it became clear that he would not be playing ODI, especially on the advice of NCA staff, as the decision was made with important bets in mind, such as the test series against Australia and the World Cup later this year.
It remains to be seen if formal notice will be given by the BCCI as it is believed that team management exercised discretion on the NCA’s advice. Sources say he could feature in the series against New Zealand, where India will play three ODIs and the same number of T20Is in that order from 18 January.
While Bumra is away from the national team, other members of the Indian team who were not part of the T20I series have joined Guwahati’s squad, including skipper Rohit Sharma, vice-captain KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Ayer.
India’s updated squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (VC), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh.