Rohit hopeful of Jasprit playing last two tests against Australia

Indian captain Rohit Sharma is hopeful of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah recovering from his injury and playing in the last two Tests against Australia at home in March.

At the same time, however, Rohit warned against rushing the right-arm fast-bowler into competitive cricketing action.

After recovering from a back injury sustained in September, which kept him out of the 2022 Men's T20 World Cup, Bumrah was set to join the Indian team in Guwahati ahead of the ODI series against Sri Lanka earlier this month. Understandably, the Indian team management is cautious about Bumrah's fitness, especially with the 2023 ODI World Cup set to be held in the country in October and November.

"About Bumrah, I'm not too sure at the moment. Of course, for the first two Test matches, he's not going to be available. But I'm expecting that; not expecting but hoping he plays the next two Test matches but again we don't want to take any risk with him. The back injuries are always critical."

"We have got a lot of cricket coming up after that as well, we will see, and we will monitor. We are in constant touch with doctors and physios in NCA and we are constantly hearing from them," said Rohit in the post-match press conference after India swept New Zealand 3-0 in the ODI series with a 90-run victory at Indore.