R Ashwin opens up on Jasprit Bumrah's availability for World Cup, talks about Pak clash

Jasprit Bumrah's highly anticipated return to the Indian cricket team and his journey to recovery have been the subject of much excitement. Recent reports indicate that Bumrah's rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) after his back surgery for a stress fracture is progressing well, and there is a possibility of him making a comeback during the T20Is against Ireland in August.

Adding to the positive updates on Bumrah's recovery, it was announced that he is set to participate in the Asia Cup in September, which came as a pleasant surprise. During a discussion about the recently announced fixtures for the ICC World Cup 2023, Ravichandran Ashwin further fueled the excitement by hinting at Bumrah's potential involvement in the highly anticipated India versus Pakistan match scheduled to take place at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.

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Ashwin on Bumrah's availability and India-Pakistan clash

Ashwin, on his YouTube channel, expressed his thoughts on the upcoming India-Pakistan clash, stating that the previous games between the two teams in ICC events have been exceptional. He mentioned that the match is expected to be evenly balanced, as Pakistan also possesses a quality seam attack. Ashwin voiced his hope for Bumrah and Krishna's return, noting their fitness is vital to India's team. The spinner said on his YouTube channel:

The last few games between India and Pakistan in the ICC events have been extraordinary to say the least. I think we can expect another blockbuster India-Pakistan game. It’s going to be a very equally-balanced game because Pakistan also have a quality seam attack. For India, obviously, we are expecting Bumrah, maybe even Prasidh… all these guys to be fit. I don’t know what the combination is going to look like but all in all, a great contest on hand.

The game I want to talk about is the one against Pakistan at Ahmedabad on October 15. Of course, it’s going to be a sell-out. 130000 will be the capacity audience at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Even in the 2011 World Cup, Ahmedabad had happy memories at Ahmedabad. The same venue was called the Motera Stadium back then where he played our quarter-final against Australia and beat them. We qualified for the semifinal against Pakistan and went on to win that World Cup.

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It is worth noting that Bumrah has missed all three T20Is against Pakistan in recent years, including two matches in the Asia Cup and one in the T20 World Cup 2022. However, if Bumrah is fit for the Asia Cup 2023, it is likely that he will take part in the upcoming games against Pakistan.

Image: BCCI/AP