Jasprit Bumrah is back: Pacer to lead Team India in T20I series vs Ireland

Jasprit Bumrah will play his first competitive game since September 2022 when he last represented India in a T20I series against Australia

Jasprit Bumrah’s much-awaited comeback in the Indian team has finally been confirmed with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announcing him as the captain for Ireland tour. Team India will play a three-match T20I series in Ireland.

BCCI announced the 15-member squad on Monday, July 31 for the series that will be played from August 18 onwards in the European country. 

The team includes Ruturaj Gaikwad as the vice-captain. For Gaikwad, it will be the much-needed practice ahead of his Asian Games assignment in which he will lead Team India. 

Also Read: Bumrah fitness news: Rohit gives big update on star bowler's India comeback

Most of the players in the team are those who will be participating in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Both the Indian men's and women's teams have got byes straight to the quarterfinal of the event which will begin on September 22 at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field. 

The Indian squad also features Prasidh Krishna in the playing 11. In all likelihood, he will feature in the playing 11 and would make a comeback to the national side after nearly a year. He last played in a three-match ODI in Zimbabwe in August 2022. 

Jasprit Bumrah's comeback trail

BCCI on July 15 had given a medical update in which it said that Bumrah was nearing match fitness. The fitness bulletin said that Bumrah would play some practice games at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru before playing competitive cricket.

Later on, Rohit Sharma, India's all-format captain also underlined Bumrah's importance in an interaction before the start of the ODI series against West Indies. He had said, "The amount of experience he (Bumrah) brings is very important. If he gets to play then it's good and we hope he plays before the World Cup."

Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah injury update: Pacer may make international return in August
 

Jasprit Bumrah records

Format	Matches	Wickets	Economy	Average	Best Bowling	5-wicket hauls
Test	30	128	2.69	21.99	6/27	8
ODI	72	121	4.64	24.31	6/19	2
T20I	60	70	6.62	20.23	3/11	0
IPL	120	145	7.4	23.31	5/10	1

Source: Cricbuzz (as of July 16, 2022)

India’s Squad for the Ireland series

Jasprit Bumrah (Capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, W Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan. 

India tour of Ireland T20I series schedule

1st T20I

Date: August 18

Venue: The Village, Dublin

Match timings: 7:30 PM IST

2nd T20I

Date: August 20

Venue: The Village, Dublin

Match timings: 7:30 PM IST

3rd T20I

Date: August 23

Venue: The Village, Dublin

Match timings: 7:30 PM IST