The Indian cricket team has won yet another bilateral series as they whitewashed New Zealand in a 3-match ODI series. While the team looks forward to the T20Is, the vision for now is on the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Ahead of that, Indian captain Rohit Sharma expects premier Indian pacer Jaspirt Bumrah to play at least the last two Test matches.
Bumrah is going through a tough time as his return to international cricket was stalled by back injuries. He missed the T20 World Cup in Australia and then while he was returning to action and was named in the Sri Lanka series last month, he complained of back stiffness and was ruled out once again.
Bumra is even excluded from the first two Test matches against Australia as they do not want to rush him in any case. But Rohit firmly believes that the Mumbai Indians teammate will be back in Indian colours for the last two Test matches.
Speaking at the press conference following India’s 90-run win in the third ODI against New Zealand, the Indian skipper opened up on Bumrah’s fitness and availability. “Not too sure about Bumrah, I am hoping he plays next (last) two Tests (against Australia), we don’t want to take any risks with him as back injuries are always critical. We have a lot of cricket coming back after that also,” Rohit Sharma stated.
However he also added that the management is in constant contact with the physios and doctors at the NCA and they are opting to give him as much time as possible to make a return. “We are in constant touch with physios and doctors in NCA. The medical team will give him as much time as he wants,” he added.
Speaking about the result, it was a brilliant match for the Indian team as they wrapped up the series 3-0 but also for Rohit Sharma who finally scored a ton. He was sensational in the way he opened the batting for India as both him and Shubman Gill posted a massive opening partnership with both the batters scoring impressive tons.
Although India lost the way slightly in the middle, it was Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur who added finishing touches to a great innings as the hosts finished with 385 runs. New Zealand did not have the greatest of the starts as Hardik Pandya dismissed Fin Allen with the new ball in hand, but Henry Nicholls and Devon Conway turned the game in the favour of the Kiwis. Conway even went on to score a brilliant fighting hundred whereas Nicholls departed for only 42.
In the middle phase of the innings, Shardul Thakur and the spin combination of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal broke through the visitors batting lineup and bundled them out for 295, registering a 90 runs win to wrap up the ODI series.
