Indian cricket team pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness will be tested ahead of his national comeback when he turns out for Gujarat in their 2019-’20 Ranji Trophy match against Kerala, beginning in Surat on Wednesday.
Bumrah, who has been out of action since September due to a stress fracture, was on Monday named in the Indian squad for the home T20 Internationals and One-Day International series against Sri Lanka and Australia respectively, next month.
All eyes will be on the 26-year-old in the Ranji Trophy game and among those in attendance will be chief selector MSK Prasad.
Bumrah, who has become India’s go-to bowler in all three formats, last played for India during the Test series in West Indies. In the second game in Jamaica, he became only the third Indian to take a Test hat-trick after veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and pacer Irfan Pathan.
His comeback was expected after he bowled full tilt in a training session ahead of the second ODI against the West Indies in Visakhapatnam last week.
Bumrah has taken 62 Test wickets in 12 games at an average of 19.24 besides 103 and 51 wickets in ODIs and T20s respectively at 21.88 and 20.17.
Bumrah’s presence will bolster Gujarat’s pace attack. Gujarat come into their second game of the tournament after comfortably beating Hyderabad in an away game.
Kerala, on the other hand, will be under pressure to deliver following their defeat to Bengal at home. In their tournament-opener, Kerala had allowed Delhi to escape with a draw.
The visiting side will bank on Sanju Samson’s good form to pull it through. Samson, who is part of India’s T20 squad, scored a hundred in Kerala’s last game against Bengal.