India seamer Jasprit Bumrah has left for Mumbai for the birth of his first child and will not feature in the Asia Cup contest vs. Nepal on September 4. There hasn’t been any official announcement from Bumrah and his wife Sanjana Ganesan, a popular TV presenter, yet, but the two are all set to welcome their first child.
A BCCI official confirmed that there are no injury concerns for Bumrah and said he is heading back home due to “personal reasons” and will rejoin the team for the Super 4 stage.
“Yes, Bumrah is heading to Mumbai for personal reasons. It is not an injury concern or anything else and he will rejoin the squad for the Super 4 stage of the tournament,” said the official.
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The 29-year-old didn’t bowl in the opening game vs. Pakistan as no play was possible due to rain after India’s batting. After a long injury lay-off, Bumrah returned for the three T20Is vs Ireland and the skipper led from the front with impressive performances with the ball.
Only two matches were possible in the three T20I series and Bumrah looked in top shape in his two outings with the ball. 2/24 in the opening game was followed by another probing spell of 2/15 in the next game. Rain didn’t allow the third match of the series to take place.
After the Ireland series, Bumrah joined Team India’s preparatory camp for the Asia Cup in Alur and participated in numerous match-simulation drills and skill-based sessions.
At the presser ahead of the Pakistan game, Rohit spoke about having Bumrah back with the team and the importance he had in the set-up.
“Playing after a long time it was good to see Jasprit Bumrah back on the ground. He is an important part of our team. It felt good he and Prasidh Krishna played two matches on the Ireland tour and bowled well there which is a good sign for us. They worked hard in the NCA during the rehabilitation period,” Rohit had said.
Change in venue likely for Asia Cup Super 4 stage
As CricketNext had reported earlier in the day, Asia Cup Super 4 matches are likely to be moved out of Colombo due to the forecast of heavy rain in the region. There’s a flood-like situation developing there and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) doesn’t want to take any chances.
A final decision in this regard is likely to be taken in a few days and it has been reliably learnt that Pallekele and Dambulla have emerged as the front-runners to host the business end of the tournament, including the final.
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