India's squad for T20I series against Ireland announced; Jasprit Bumrah to lead

The Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI on Monday announced the squad for the threematch T20I series against Ireland in DublinGiving a fillip to Indias pace bowling unit ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023 Jasprit Bumrah marked his return to the team as the captain for the series He is returning from a long injury lay offIndia will play three T20Is against Ireland on August 18 20 and 23NEWS Jaspritbumrah93 to lead TeamIndia for Ireland T20Is Team Jasprit Bumrah Capt Ruturaj Gaikwad vc Yashasvi Jaiswal Tilak Varma Rinku Singh Sanju Samson wk Jitesh Sharma wk Shivam Dube W Sundar Shahbaz Ahmed Ravi Bishnoi Prasidh Krishna Arshdeephellipmdash BCCI BCCI July 31 2023Bumrah who underwent a surgery in New Zealand for a back injury has been undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy for a while now and the pace spearhead had recently bowled his full quota of 10 overs against visiting Mumbai side here at the Alur groundsHe was out of action since September 2022 and missed the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia He also missed the Indian Premier League IPL 2023 where he represents Mumbai IndiansThere were deliberations about Bumrahs readiness to handle the twin responsibility of leader of pace attack and the teamBut PTI has learned that the 29yearold was eager to don the dual role during the Ireland trip Bumrah has the experience of leading the side as he had led India against England in the Birmingham Test last yearAlso Read India vs West Indies 2023 Is Yashasvi Jaiswal the next cricket sensationThe selectors have also included Karnataka pacer Prasidh Krishna in the squadThe rightarm quick last played for India in an ODI match against Zimbabwe in August last year before undergoing a surgery for stress fractureRuturaj Gaikwad has been named as the vicecaptain of the side from which many regular members like Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill are absent However both Pandya and Gill are expected to return to action through the Asia CupThe only jarring point in the squad to Ireland is the continued absence of KL Rahul and Shreyas IyerThey are still under rehabilitation after their respective surgeries and a timeframe has not been set for their return to topflight cricketThe BCCI had recently said that both Rahul and Shreyas have started batting at nets at the NCA and they were undergoing strength and fitness drillsMeanwhile the World Cup hopefuls will have a weeklong training camp at the NCA ahead of their departure to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup Their fitness levels too will be assessed during this campIndia squad for T20I series against Ireland Jasprit Bumrah Captain 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 KhanWith PTI inputs