Reports: Jasprit Bumrah likely to fly to New Zealand for back surgery

Star Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah will reportedly travel to New Zealand to undergo a back surgery. Kiwi surgeon Rowan Schouten, who had treated Jofra Archer, has been finalised by the medical team of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the managers of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and efforts are being made to fly the pacer down to Auckland soon.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, Bumrah will likely take 20 -24 weeks to fully recover which will keep him out of action till September which means he will miss the IPL and the World Test Championship final in June, if India qualifies for the same. The 29-year-old last played an international match in September 2022 against Australia.

After Bumrah missed important events in 2022 such as the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup, the BCCI is trying its best to get India’s premier fast bowler ready for the ODI World Cup scheduled to take place in India in October.

According to reports, surgeon Schouten, who is based out of Christchurch, will operate on Bumrah. In the past, Schouten had worked with Grahame Inglis, a prominent name in the field of orthopaedics. Inglis had performed surgeries on a few New Zealand players, including former pacer Shane Bond, who’s the current bowling coach of Mumbai Indians and is likely to have suggested Schouten's name.

Schouten is a well-known name in sporting circles and is considered to be a master of his art, knowing how to go about the procedure. He had also assisted Inglis in the surgery of Australian pacer James Pattinson while he also handled the surgery of Ben Dwarshuis, Jason Behrendorff and Jofra Archer who had also struggled with back issues.

Umesh Yadav given a chance in Tests ahead of WTC final

India will have big shoes to fill in the World Test Championship final in Bumrah’s absence. In the ongoing third Test against Australia, the team management selected Umesh Yadav in the playing XI ahead of Mohammed Shami.

According to reports, the team management wanted to give a chance to Yadav keeping the WTC final in mind. The decision to include Yadav was to actually give him a run in Tests ahead of the WTC final instead of just resting Shami.

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