‘Jasprit Bumrah Playing IPL Will Give a Message That he is Fit’: Robin Uthappa

Former India opener Robin Uthappa feels that all eyes will be on Jasprit Bumrah in the upcoming season of Indian Premier League. Bumrah, who sustained a back injury last year, missed the crucial Asia Cup and T20 World Cup and is yet to recover from it. The premier pacer is left out of India’s squad for the first two matches against Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Bumrah was all set to return to competitive cricket with Sri Lanka ODIs last month but was ruled out once again after failing to recover in time. The premier pacer has been facing a lot of scrutiny in recent times for being injury-prone in recent times but India missed his services dearly during the last year’s T20 WC.

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Uthappa suggested that if Bumrah managed to play all the matches in IPL 2023 it will boost his and the Indian team’s confidence.

“I think he should definitely play the IPL. If he plays the entire IPL, it will give him huge confidence in not just himself, but also the team, players, viewers, and supporters ahead of the World Cup. Bumrah playing IPL will give a message that he is fit,” Uthappa told Times of India.

India will need the services of Bumrah in this year’s ODI World Cup but his fitness will be extremely crucial and the management has a big task to manage his workload and give him enough game time at the same time for the mega tournament.

Uthappa further questioned National Cricket Academy for the delay in Bumrah’s recovery and feels that Bumrah will be thinking about the same.

“Bumrah must be in a place right now where he wants answers. He must be wondering – ‘what is actually going on with me. Why am I not recovering’? The NCA will have to give answers to that. There are huge and amazing rehab facilities. So, NCA will have to give answers to that as in what’s happening there, why aren’t physios able to get him ready?” Uthappa added.

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The veteran opener further gave his verdict on Rahul Dravid’s coaching tenure so far and said that he is the best man to handle pressure situations.

“It’s been a little bit of a mixed bag. I know the effort he is putting in is very much genuine. I am sure he has to deal with a lot of other things as a coach. It is not easy dealing with Indian cricket because there are so many different cultures and so many different pressures. You would probably feel that Rahul Dravid is one of the best men to handle these things,” he added.

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