Team India Injury Update: Pant set for World Cup return? Bumrah & Shreyas to be fit for Asia Cup?

According to a report by ESPN CricInfo, wicketkeeper-batter Pant is progressing swiftly in his recovery and BCCI hope to get him ready for the ODI show-piece event. The same report also suggests, Shreyas and Bumrah could return even before the World Cup.

Pant has missed action since his near-fatal car crash in December 2022, but his quick recovery has surprised the BCCI and the medical staff at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, where he is undergoing rehabilitation.

India have greatly missed Pant’s services over the past few months, especially in the World Test Championship final, where his counter-attacking would have been of great help for Rohit Sharma’s side that lost the WTC final to Australia.

Apart from Team India, IPL franchise Delhi Capitals also missed their captain dearly as the side finished in the bottom of the table under the captaincy of David Warner, who had stepped in for the injured wicketkeeper-batter.

With just under four months left for the ODI World Cup, Team India will hope Pant is back fit along with pacer Jasprit Bumrah and batter Shreyas Iyer, who were also missed by the national side in the recent WTC final.

The duo, who have missed action due to back issues, have undergone surgery and are undergoing their rehabilitation at the NCA alongside Pant and another pacer Prasidh Krishna, who also underwent surgery recently.

According to CricInfo, the NCA medical staff is optimistic about both players being available even before the ODI World Cup and could be available for the Asia Cup 2023 in September.

Bumrah had surgery in New Zealand in March and has not played since the home T20Is against Australia last September. The report further added that Bumrah, who is mainly doing physiotherapy, has recently started light bowling workloads.

Shreyas has often complained of the issue and underwent surgery in London in May and is now undergoing physiotherapy. The middle-order batter has missed action since the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in March in Ahmedabad.

The trio’s return will be huge boost for India in a home World Cup and the tournaments thereafter. However, the NCA will remain cautious, having already seen Bumrah being rushed once and missing out on action due to a reccurence.

But the surgery may have fixed the issue for the pacer and the same can be said of Shreyas. Pant, on the other hand, is progressing swiftly and will be keen to be back on the field soon.