It was not the perfect start to the campaign for Mumbai Indians, they conceded 213 runs, they faced the brunt of a Rishabh Pant onslaught and their premier strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah went tumbling down. The whole of Indian cricket held their breath as Bumrah clutched his left shoulder when fell on his follow-through after delivering the final ball of the 1st innings. He did not come out to bat as well.
The official word from the Mumbai camp at the end of the game was "Jasprit Bumrah has recovered well. We will be assessing him tomorrow as well." Well, it could have been taken at face value, but then, he did not walk out to bat which could well be a signal that the injury could be a serious one, or the management just wanted to be cautious.
Now, as per IANS, sources in the know of developments has said that the bowler had recovered by the time the team reached the team hotel.
"He is fit and it was just a case of shoulder spasm, nothing serious at all. He is an integral part of both Team India and Mumbai Indians and with the World Cup around the corner, the management felt it was best to keep him away from the batting crease on Sunday," the source said.
Concern shown by Indian team physio Patrick Farhart
Bumrah, who will be India's X-factor in the upcoming World Cup, was checked on by Team India's physio Patrick Farhart.
"Everyone was concerned and Patrick spoke to Nitin on Monday morning to gauge the situation and the future course of action as Bumrah is an integral part of the Indian team going into the World Cup in May. But, there is nothing to worry and he is likely to take the field in the next game," the source said.
Workload management has been a huge talk of the town leading up to the IPL and Indian captain Virat Kohli had advised his players to be smart and to assess their own bodies before taking the field.
"We told the players 'go and enjoy these two months in IPL, don't think of performance pressure or 'I have to do this or that'. We've given the responsibility to the player to be smart, to inform the management of the franchise and be in touch with Patrick, our physio.
"Not to say we won't be committed to the IPL, but we've got to be smart... No one will be forced to do something. Eventually, everyone will know no one wants to miss the bus to the World Cup and cost the team good balance," Kohli had said.
