Jasprit Bumrah made his Test debut more than three years ago in January 2018, and has played 17 Test matches so far, but is somehow yet to play a game at home.
The No.9 ranked Test bowler in the ICC Test bowling rankings, Jasprit Bumrah’s rise from a limited-overs bowler to an all-format one, excelling in the red ball game is nothing short of phenomenal. Interestingly, Bumrah is yet to play a single home Test, with each of his 17 Tests coming away from home.
Here’s a look at each home series India have played since Jasprit Bumrah’s debut and the reason why the premier fast bowler wasn’t a part of the Test squad each time.
One-off Test against Afghanistan 2018: Rested
Afghanistan’s first Test against India at Bengaluru turned out to be a low-profile series for India who chose to rest a few players. Jasprit Bumrah was among the rested players, a list that also included skipper Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rohit Sharma.
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West Indies tour of India 2018/19: Rested
With the West Indies tour of India in 2018/19 coming soon after a tough away series in England and right before the tour of Australia in December, India chose to play safe with their precocious talent who had impressed in South Africa and England. Bumrah was rested for the two-match Test series.
South Africa tour of India 2019/20: Injured
Jasprit Bumrah was widely expected to make his home Test debut in the home series South Africa in 2019. He was named in the initial squad for the three Tests, but a routine radiological screening before the series detected a minor stress fracture in his lower back, and he was subsequently ruled out of the series with Umesh Yadav replacing him.
Coming soon! 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/Nhrsusny1L
— Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) October 29, 2019
Bangladesh tour of India 2019/20: Injured
The Bangladesh Tests came immediately after the South Africa home series, and Bumrah, who was still recovering from the lower back stress fracture, wasn’t considered for selection. Bumrah was expected to be out for a while but made an early comeback after the series after it was decided that he didn’t need surgery, as was initially expected.
However, India’s assignments since then in Test cricket have all been overseas. The home series against England, starting on February 5, is expected to finally break Bumrah’s streak of not playing home Tests.
