Jasprit Bumrah added to India's ODI squad for SL series after NCA fitness clearance
Mumbai, Jan 3: Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was on Tuesday added to India's ODI squad for the three games against Sri Lanka after National Cricket Academy declared him fit for home series beginning January 10.
Bumrah last played for India in September and had also missed the T20 World Cup in Australia due to a back injury.
"The All-India Senior Selection Committee has included pacer Jasprit Bumrah in India's ODI squad for the upcoming Mastercard 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.
"The pacer has undergone rehabilitation and has been declared fit by the National Cricket Academy (NCA). He will be joining the Team India ODI squad soon," said the BCCI in a statement.
The first ODI will be played in Guwahati on January 10, second in Kolkata on January 12 and third in Trivandrum on January 15.
With the focus on 50-over cricket in an ODI World Cup year, it is unlikely that Bumrah will feature in the shortest format till the ICC event at home in October-November.
His IPL workload too would be monitored closely by the NCA, as well as other "targeted" India players for the ODI World Cup.
One of the best in the business, Bumrah is vital to India's chances at the mega event as they look to win the coveted trophy for the second time at home after 2011.
Having made his India debut in 2016, the 29-year-old has represented the country in 30 Tests, 72 ODIs and 60 T20Is.
Experts including the great Michael Holding find Bumrah injury-prone as he generates serious pace with a short-run up.
"My problem with Bumrah, and I mentioned it to him when last time I saw him in England, is how long that body will hold up with that short run and the amount of effort he has to put into in his bowling, it is a human body. It is not a machine," Holding had said back in 2020.
India's updated squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
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Cong is 'disciple' of Pakistan; neighbouring country eager to make 'shehzada' next PM of India: Modi
Anand (Gujarat) (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday dubbed the Congress party a "disciple" of Pakistan, and said the neighbouring country was eager to make the 'shehzada' of the grand old party the next prime minister of India.
His comments came amid reports that Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a former minister in Imran Khan's cabinet in Pakistan, shared a video featuring Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his social media handle and praised him.
"Pakistan is crying because Congress is dying here. Pakistani leaders are praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make 'shehzada' (referring to Rahul Gandhi) the next prime minister. This is not surprising because we already know that Congress is Pakistan's 'mureed' (disciple). The partnership between Pakistan and Congress has been exposed. It shows the country's enemies want a weak government in India, not a strong one," Modi said.
Addressing a poll rally in Anand town of central Gujarat in support of BJP candidates for Anand and Kheda Lok Sabha seats, PM Modi also took a dig at Congress over opposition leader Salman Khurshid's niece Maria Alam's call for 'vote jihad'.
"Now, the INDI alliance calls for 'vote jihad'. We have so far heard about 'love jihad' and 'land Jihad'. This (vote jihad) is said by a person who belonged to an educated Muslim family, not by someone who studied in a madrasa. I hope you all know what the meaning of jihad is. This is an insult to democracy and not a single Congress leader has condemned it," he said.
He alleged that the Congress wants to change the country's Constitution to give reservation of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities to Muslims.
The prime minister also challenged the Congress to give in writing that it will not change the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion and that it will not give backdoor quota to Muslims in states where it and its allies are in power.
India is being seen as a peacemaker in the world today, he said, adding that it was his guarantee that he would work 24x7 to make India a developed country by 2047.
Modi said in the last 10 years, his government provided tap water connections to 14 crore houses, while the Congress-led dispensations gave it to just 3 crore houses in 60 years of its rule.
