No pressure but honour: On comeback from injury, Jasprit Bumrah relishes successful T20I captaincy debut in Ireland

India captain Jasprit Bumrah was a happy man on Wednesday, August 23 despite not getting an opportunity to roll his arm over in the third and final T20I against Ireland in Dublin. Rain washed out the series finale, but India won the assignment 2-0 with Bumrah sealing his first series win as captain in his maiden T20I series as skipper.

It was not just a routine series for Bumrah but he had returned to competitive cricket after having been out of action for 10 months due to a back injury. Bumrah was racing against time to be fit for India’s ODI World Cup campaign after underoing surgery for his back ailment in New Zealand earlier this year but he made a strong comeback to the side, winning the Player of the Series Award.

Bumrah bowled 8 overs and picked up 4 wickets at an economy rate of just over 4 in the 2 matches against Ireland, showing the selectors and the team management that he is ready for bigger battles. Bumrah looked in no discomfort as he slowly hit speeds in excess of 140 kph.

Bumrah also marshaled the young Indian team, which was full of players who are set to go to the Asian Games next month, wonderfully well.

There were concerns about the extra burden on Bumrah when he was named as the captain of the team for the Ireland tour right after his comeback from the injury. However, Bumrah played it down, saying he never thought about it as extra pressure.

“It’s been a lot of fun to lead the young side. All of them have been very eager. Even if the game had started, even with a bit of weather around, everybody was eager. That was a very heartening sign to see.

“I don’t really think about all that (Did you feel a lot was going through your mind already?). When you get an opportunity to lead the side, any player would love to do that. So, I am no different. It was an honour. It was a lot of fun. When you are a captain, you have a lot of responsibility. As a cricketer, you always want responsibility. You always want responsibility in any situation. So very happy with how the series went,” Bumrah told after India won the series 2-0.

‘ALL GOOD’

Bumrah has been named in India’s 17-man squad for Asia Cup 2023 along with Prasidh Krishna who also returned from a long back injury layoff.

The pacer is expected to lead the Indian attack in the Asia Cup, starting August 30.

“All good no complaints. Couldn’t have asked for anything better. But it was not one year, 10 months,” Bumrah said, expressing confidence about his fitness.

India will take on Pakistan in their Asia Cup 2023 opener on September 2 in Kandy before which the Asia Cup team will have a training camp in Bengaluru.