“I looked at it as off-season, got a lot of time to spend with my family” - Jasprit Bumrah reflects on the positive side of injury layoff

Team India lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah has divulged that he looked at his time away from the game due to injury as an “off-season”. He added that he was happy to spend a lot of time with family, something he hasn’t been able to do otherwise due to non-stop cricket.

Bumrah has been out of action since September 2022 due to a back injury, forcing him to miss the T20 World Cup last year, among a few other big events. Having undergone surgery in March, he completed his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and was named as captain for the tour of Ireland.

The 29-year-old will make his much-awaited comeback when the Men in Blue face Ireland in the first T20I in Dublin on Friday.

Speaking ahead of the game, Bumrah reflected on the time he spent away from cricket. On how he managed to keep himself in high spirits, the pacer said:

“I was not really thinking about it too much. Anyways you are facing an injury, so you are trying to solve that problem rather than thinking about what the world is saying or what you have to do. I was just thinking about recuperating and fixing things."

"After the fix happened, I started enjoying my rehab as well. You learn to enjoy a game a lot more. Usually, we don’t get a lot of time off. Probably after 10-11 years, this is the first time in summer I was at home and I spoke to my mother about it."

“I looked at it as off-season, got a lot of time to spend with my family. Looking at the positives. Obviously, it was a little disappointing that you are away from the game. You want to play and contribute. You miss some important tournaments as well, but that’s something that you cannot control, so you can’t be really frustrated about it,” he went on to add.

Apart from Bumrah, the Ireland series will also mark the comeback of another pacer Prasidh Krishna, who had undergone surgery for a lumbar stress fracture earlier this year.

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“I was always preparing for a World Cup competition” - Bumrah on getting in shape for the upcoming workload

While Bumrah had to be mindful of his workload during rehab, he also knew that he had to prepare hard enough in the nets to be in rhythm for the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup.

The pacer admitted that he knew at the back of his mind that India wouldn’t be playing any Tests soon and so needed to put in extra yards during practice.

“We were mindful that there is not a lot of Test cricket that I am going to play. In India’s cycle, there are no Test matches till the World Cup ends. In my rehab as well, I was not preparing for a T20 game, I was always preparing for a World Cup competition. I have been bowling 10, 12, 15 overs. I have bowled more overs, so it becomes easier to bowl lesser than what is required,” he said.

After the three-match T20I series in Ireland, India will feature in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and Pakistan from August 30 to September 17.