The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is eager for the early return of Indian team's star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Some media reports are claiming that India can soon decide on Bumrah's availability in the Champions Trophy as the deadline for submitting the final team to the ICC is about to end now. Bumrah is included in India's 15-member squad for this ICC tournament starting on 19 February, but he is not sure to play in it.

Bumrah is undergoing a rehab process at NCA.

Bumrah is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore and is undergoing a rehabilitation process. Now, there is not much time left for the Champions Trophy to start, so Bumrah does not have much time left to get match fit. Bumrah was injured during the fifth Test played against Australia in Sydney earlier this year and has been out of the field since then. Bumrah could not even participate in the limited-overs series against England due to injury.

Eyes on Bumrah's fitness

Along with cricket fans, the eyes of BCCI and team management are fixed on Bumrah's fitness. India is currently playing a three-match ODI series against England, the final match of which will be played in Ahmedabad on February 12. The team will leave for Dubai for the Champions Trophy a day or two after this. In such a situation, it will be interesting to see whether Bumrah is able to prove his fitness before that or not.

Bumrah has completed five weeks of off-loading under which the player is advised to take complete rest. During this time the player does not even go to the gym. The BCCI is not allowing the information coming from the NCA to become public and except for four-five people associated with the Center of Excellence and the Indian cricket team, no one else has accurate information about the latest fitness status of this fast bowler.

For the rehabilitation process of an injured centrally contracted player, the NCA allocates a strength and conditioning coach, a physio to monitor the injury, and a bowling or batting coach to work on the skills, which is also a part of the return to play (RTP). "Strength and conditioning coach Rajnikanth Sivagnanam and physio Tulsi Ram Yuvraj are working on Bumrah's rehabilitation along with sports science head Dr Nitin Patel. Patel is personally monitoring the entire process. National team strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai and physio Kamlesh Jain are also being briefed about this," a senior BCCI official told news agency PTI on condition of anonymity. The team will wait till the last moment for Bumrah.
Some reports on social media said that Bumrah is working with Desai at the NCA but Desai is travelling with the Indian team for the ongoing series against England and is also expected to go to Dubai as support staff for the Champions Trophy. If Bumrah gets permission to bowl, it is expected that Troy Cooley will keep an eye on him and the final report prepared by Patel regarding his availability will be sent to BCCI secretary Devjit Saikia and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma will also be informed about Bumrah's condition. However, if Bumrah is not fit in time, then BCCI can directly name Harshit Rana in his place, but it is expected that the team will wait till the last moment for him to be fit for this big ICC tournament.