India have announced that Jasprit Bumrah will captain the side in their upcoming T20Is against Ireland, as he returns to international cricket after being sidelined with injury for almost a year.
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Prasidh Krishna has also been named in the squad, with India’s fast-bowling stocks boosted by the return of the two players. Krishna suffered a lumbar stress fracture in his back last year, and hasn’t played international cricket since India’s tour of Zimbabwe last August.
India T20I squad: Jasprit Bumrah (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
Bumrah has been in rehabilitation for a back injury since September last year. He underwent surgery in New Zealand several months ago and has been training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for the last two months. He last captained India in the Test match against England at Edgbaston last year. Last week, the BCCI revealed that Bumrah and Prasidh were “bowling at full intensity in the nets”.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is also in the squad, but misses out on the captaincy to Bumrah despite being set to lead India at the 2023 Asian Games. There were discussions that he should lead the side in order to boost his leadership experience. He has been named vice-captain of the side instead.
Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube have also been selected on the back of impressive IPL performances.
The squad is a second-string one, as India look to juggle their resources ahead of this year’s World Cup.
India will play three T20Is against Ireland on August 18, 20 and 23. All of the games will take place at Malahide.
