IPL 2025: Jasprit Bumrah returning soon; MI pacer to undergo final round of fitness tests

The return of Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the ongoing IPL 2025 is on the cards as he will be undergoing a final round of fitness tests before confirming his availability for the remainder of the season. 

Bumrah has been out of action since January after sustaining a stress fracture on his lower back during the first innings of the Sydney Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The right-arm pacer did not come out to bowl in the second innings, which proved costly for India as they failed to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in 10 years after losing the five-match series 1-3 to Pat Cummins. 

Jasprit Bumrah was added to the preliminary India squad for the Champions Trophy 2025, only to be ruled out of the tournament as he could not regain his fitness in time. After being ruled out of the marquee event, which Team India won by defeating New Zealand in the final, Bumrah underwent rehabilitation and recovery to regain his fitness ahead of the IPL 2025. However, the star pacer could not make it in the initial matches of the tournament. 

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Jasprit Bumrah on road to make a comeback 

Ahead of the clash against Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians received good news as Jasprit Bumrah is set to return to action soon. Recently a video went viral on social media, where Mumbai Indians pacer was seen bowling in the nets at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He was bowling at full intensity and pace in the nets. 

Jasprit Bumrah has already played four matches for Mumbai Indians, including the clash against Lucknow Super Giants. He is set to miss Mumbai Indians’ second home match of the season against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 7. According to the report by ESPN Cricinfo, the 31-year-old is intensifying his bowling workload at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru to gear up for his return to action. 

Bumrah will undergo a final round of fitness tests conducted by the BCCI medical team. Once the pacer receives fitness clearance from Centre of Excellence, he can join the Mumbai Indians squad and participate in the tournament. At the same time, Jasprit Bumrah is cautious about his return to action, prioritizing full fitness rather than hasty comeback. With the India Test tour of England set to take place in June, the premier pacer would aggravate his injury and jeopardize his chances of leading the Indian pace attack in the challenging overseas series.

How have Mumbai Indians performed with Jasprit Bumrah? 

The absence of Jasprit Bumrah was felt as Mumbai Indians lost their initial two matches of the season against Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans in away matches. However, MI managed to turn their tables around to clinch their first win of the season against the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders in front of the home crowd at Wankhede. 

In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar are shouldering responsibility together in the powerplay to provide early breakthroughs for Mumbai Indians. Which was evident during the clash against KKR, rattling the opponent’s batting line-up in the powerplay. 

Nonetheless, Bumrah’s absence is a blessing in disguise for Mumbai Indians as they got an opportunity to unearth new talents, especially Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Puthur. Puthur is already having a dream IPL debut season, taking four wickets in two wickets. Ashwani had a brilliant debut IPL outing as he registered figures of 4/24 at an economy rate of 8 in three overs against Kolkata Knight Riders. His bowling figures were the best by an Indian bowler on IPL debut.

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