'Resting without playing?' - Twitter not impressed as India don't include Jasprit Bumrah in 1st T20I vs Australia

Bumrah was making a comeback after missing the Asia Cup but surprisingly, he wasn't included in the playing XI.

By Karthik Nair

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Jasprit Bumrah celebrating Liam Livingstone's wicket
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Jasprit Bumrah (Photo Source: Twitter/BCCI)

India begin their T20 World Cup 2022 preparations as they face Australia in a three-match home series the first of which will be played at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday, September 20. However, what was surprising just moments before the high-octane clash was pace spearhead  Jasprit Bumrah not finding a place in the playing XI.

The Men in Blue decided to go with three proper pacers, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and, Umesh Yadav with star all-rounder Hardik Pandya providing an additional option with his medium pace. This was indeed the time for Bumrah to overcome his injury woes heading into the showpiece event down under next month, but the team management had other ideas.

Jasprit Bumrah benched for first T20I vs Australia

Jasprit Bumrah, who has been India's premier speedster across formats for the last few years, suffered a back injury last month as a result of which he was ruled out of Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE along with Harshal Patel who had suffered a rib injury in the Caribbean. The duo went through a successful rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and have regained complete fitness. 

While Harshal got a chance in the playing XI for the Mohali T20I against the reigning T20 world champions, Jasprit was not the lucky one and had to warm the bench and wait for another day. Rohit Sharma, however, hinted at playing him in the second and third T20Is.

Jasprit Bumrah's absence in the Asia Cup proved to be costly for the Men in Blue. Even though they topped Group A, they ran out of fire and brimstone in the Super Four encounters where they went down to arch-rivals Pakistan and the eventual winners Sri Lanka in the final overs and it was the lack of a seasoned death bowling option that cost India a chance to defend their title.

While the inexperienced Arshdeep Singh tried his level best in both Super Four games to make the save for India in the last overs, senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar had bowled expensive spells in both matches which left Arshdeep with hardly anything to defend.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Jasprit Bumrah not featuring in India's playing XI for the first game against Australia:

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