Jasprit Bumrah, the Team India pacer, is reportedly set to undertake an unavoidable surgery overseas to treat his back injury. According to Cricbuzz, the BCCI’s medical team and the NCA’s management have identified New Zealand’s Rowan Schouten as the surgeon who will carry out the operation in the coming weeks. Schouten, based in Christchurch, is highly renowned for his skills, having worked on notable players like Jofra Archer and James Pattinson previously, as well as Grahame Inglis.
Dr Inglis is highly regarded as a leading orthopedic surgeon, having operated on numerous athletes, such as Shane Bond, who was injured. He currently serves as the bowling coach for the Mumbai Indians. Schouten has greatly assisted Inglis, helping him with surgeries for Jason Behrendorff, Ben Dwarshuis and James Pattinson in recent months. It has been reported that arrangements are being made for Bumrah to go to Auckland for evaluation, initially reported as having caused him to miss the Indian Premier League (IPL). Recovery time is estimated to be between 20 and 24 weeks, meaning he could potentially miss out on the World Test Championship (WTC) in England if India qualifies. However, the BCCI aims to prioritize Bumrah for the ODI World Cup in late 2023. He will likely be absent from the Asia Cup soon after, leaving him with a short timeframe to feature in and adjust to the competition ahead of the November-December window.
The journey of the speedster back to full health and fitness after the injury has been complex. Initially, he was ruled out of the Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE due to signs of distress during the ODI series against England. Then, while bowling, he encountered considerable discomfort and was consequently excluded from the T20 World Cup 2022. To top it off, he returned to the team for the home series against Australia but was ultimately withdrawn from the start of their season against Sri Lanka.
