Key Points
Bumrah recovering from back injury at BCCI NCA
No set return date for IPL 2025
Expected to join Mumbai Indians in April
Hardik Pandya returns after suspension
Bumrah is currently undergoing rehab at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence (formerly the National Cricket Academy) in Bengaluru for a lower back injury which prevented him from bowling in the second innings of fifth Test against Australia in Sydney. Since then, Bumrah has been out of action and even missed India’s triumphant Champions Trophy campaign.
"On a daily basis he's going through his programme. So far everything seems ok but there were no timelines given by NCA so we'll wait on that," Jayawardene said of Bumrah.
The 31-year-old is expected to join the Mumbai squad at some point in April. In his absence, Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar are sharing the load of pace bowling while the franchise also handed a debut to seamer Satyanarayana Raju in the absence of captain Hardik Pandya in their season opener against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk on Sunday.
With Pandya returning to the field after serving a one-match suspension due to an over-rate offence in the last edition, Jayawardene expects Mumbai fans to look beyond the last season when they gave a hostile reception to the all-rounder following his appointment as captain over Rohit Sharma.
"I think it's just a game of cricket. Fans are fans and the emotions are part of it and I'm sure that everyone has gone beyond that," Jayawardene said.
"It's amazing to see how loyalty and everything works even in IPL, which is fascinating, and I've enjoyed that from the outside. Twelve months on, he has achieved a lot more and I'm sure everyone will see beyond what happened last year. We can enjoy a good game of cricket and everyone can enjoy a good game of cricket," he added.
