Bumrah may miss initial IPL matches

Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the initial rounds of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) matches for Mumbai Indians as the star pacer is still recovering from the lower back injury that rendered him out of action since January.

- Agencies

NEW DELHI:

Bumrah suffered the injury during the second day of the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney and did not bowl in Australia's second innings where they chased 162 successfully.

Bumrah, who had taken 32 wickets from five matches in that series, has been sidelined since, and also missed India's victorious Champions Trophy campaign.

He was named in India's provisional squad for the ICC showpiece, but could not attain the optimum fitness level in time.

"His recuperation is going well. But at this stage it is better to give him some more time to return to peak fitness, considering India's Test series against England in June," a source close to the development told PTI.

The IPL 2025 is scheduled to end on May 25. It is also learnt that the physios at the BCCI Centre of Excellence have not set a specific timeframe for him to return to action, even though Bumrah has been steadily increasing his workload at nets and match simulations. Earlier, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that Bumrah had been advised five weeks of complete "off-loading" to reduce the stress on his injured back.

Samson completes his recovery process Meanwhile, Sanju Samson has completed his recovery process after undergoing a surgery on his right index finger recently. The Rajasthan Royals skipper had suffered the injury during the T20I series against England.

While the Centre of Excellence physios are satisfied with Samson's ability to bat without any struggle, they would want to take a closer look at his comfort levels while wicketkeeping.

Injured Wood to miss Test series against India LONDON: England pacer Mark Wood will miss out on all formats of cricket for the next four months due to a knee injury that worsened during the ICC Champions Trophy.

Recent scans followed by surgery revealed ligament damage in his left knee, ruling him out of India's Test series against England starting in June.