Team India supporters are trolling fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah following his return to the national side on Tuesday. Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Jasprit Bumrah will make his long-awaited comeback to international cricket in next week's ODI series against Sri Lanka.

“Bumrah was out of cricketing action since September 2022 and was also ruled out of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup due to a back injury. 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,” the BCCI said in a statement.

Jasprit Bumrah's last appearance for the Indian cricket team was against Australia during a home T20I series in September last year. Subsequently, a stress fracture in the back denied him the opportunity to participate in the T20 World Cup. In his absence, the Rohit Sharma-led Team India exited the event in the semifinals, losing to eventual champions by 10 wickets.

Widely regarded as the best all-format bowler in the world, his return is considered to be a massive boost to the Men in Blue's fast bowling department.

The 29-year-old would provide skipper Rohit Sharma a genuine wicket-taking option both up front and in the death overs, considering Jasprit Bumrah's unique action allows him to exert extra bounce from the pitch with the new ball besides having the ability to bamboozle batters with his toe-breaking yorkers at the end.

Despite his impressive numbers for India, Jasprit Bumrah's return didn't excite cricket admirers of the country as they trolled him for making a comeback months ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

 

However, this isn't the first time Jasprit Bumrah received flak online.

Last year, weeks before the T20 World Cup in Australia, the Ahmedabad-born speedster was ruled out of the elite competition Down Under, leading to scathing criticism from Team India supporters.

While some made fun of the Mumbai Indians bowler for missing out on the biggest T20 international tournament, others claimed that if it was the Indian Premier League (IPL), he would have managed to get himself fit anyhow.

On the other hand, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt defended him by arguing that he had too much workload on his shoulders and the injury was simply waiting to happen.

“Bumrah's action is such that it puts immense load on his back. He plays all three formats and then there is the IPL as well, which is a long tournament. So, India will have to pick and choose. Bumrah is like a Ferrari, or an Aston Martin or a Lamborghini. These are luxury cars which have speed. These are called ‘weekend cars'. They are not your everyday Toyota Corolla, that can be driven everywhere. Anyone can scratch it and it wouldn't make a difference. Weekend cars are meant to be driven only on weekends. A genuine fast bowler like Bumrah needs to be managed carefully. Don't play him in every match,” Salman Butt said on his YouTube channel.

India captain Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, revealed at the time that medical experts believed that if Jasprit Bumrah played in the 2022 T20 World Cup it could bring an end to his playing career.

“We spoke to a lot of the specialists about his injuries, but we did not get a decent response. This World Cup is important, but his career is more important. He is only 27-28, there is a lot of cricket in front of him,” Rohit Sharma said.

“So, we can't take such a risk. All the specialists we spoke to were of the same opinion. There is a lot of cricket ahead of him, he will play a lot more and help India win matches. There is no doubt that he will be missed,” he added.

“When it comes to injuries, we have done a lot with regard to player management in the last one year, but these things happen, and there is not much you can do about it. Our focus in the last year was to get the players in the queue ready, and give them opportunities. We know injuries can happen anytime, so our constant focus was to give the players in the waiting enough games and back them,” the India captain concluded.

India's updated squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), 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.

The ODI series against Sri Lanka begins at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday.