"We have a whole month to build him up before the World Cup" - Rahul Dravid on handling Jasprit Bumrah in the upcoming ODI season  

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid recently opened up about the returns of Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna into the ODI setup ahead of the 2023 Asia Cup.

Bumrah and Prasidh last played the format in 2022 and officially made their returns from lengthy injury layoffs during the recently concluded tour of Ireland.

Bumrah has been a massive miss for the Men in Blue across formats and the results reflect the same as well. There have been concerns with death bowling as well in the recent past, which India look to resolve with Bumrah's return.

Rahul Dravid reckoned that the upcoming Asia Cup and the bilateral ODI series against Australia will serve as the ideal avenue for Jasprit Bumrah to work his way to full rhythm.

"It is great to have them back. Jasprit is someone who we have missed a lot, over the last two years he has not played too much games," Dravid said. "We will ease him into it slowly. It was nice for him to get those overs in the tour of Ireland. We have a whole month to build him up before the World Cup. It gives us more options in the pace bowling department."

Dravid also spoke about the need for credible backup options on the sidelines as well.

"Especially in a long tournament like a World Cup, even if people do not make the final 15, you want to know that there are a couple of guys out there who are fit and have the quality to replace in case something happens," he continued.

Bumrah bowled with good rhythm as he led Team India to a 2-0 series win over Ireland. He claimed two wickets in his very first over upon returning and finished with solid bowling figures as well. Prasidh Krishna also marked his maiden T20I series with four wickets under his belt.

---

"It is good to have some experienced players within the group" - Rahul Dravid on the importance of having leaders in the squad

Team India's squad for the Asia Cup has a lot of leadership experience with the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya all having led Team India in the past. Other players like Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson have also been in leadership capacities in the IPL.

Rahul Dravid stated that such experience will only benefit the squad and help skipper Rohit Sharma, who will be making the final decision.

"It is good to have some experienced players within the group, guys who have led in the past, guys who are leading right now," Dravid continued. "We have had to rotate quite a lot, there have been a lot of tours and a lot of injuries happening. So, there have been quite a few captains over the last couple of years. Just the nature of circumstances that we found ourselves in. It is good to have that knowledge in the group."

Team India are close to wrapping up the camp in Alur and departing for Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup. They will begin their campaign with a clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 2 at the Pallekele International Stadium.