Aiming to save themselves from a humiliating whitewash, India have been hit with a big blow ahead of the third Test against New Zealand set to take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as star pacer Jasprit Bumrah will miss the third Test scheduled to start on Friday (November 1).
According to a report by the Indian Express, Bumrah has flown back home to Ahmedabad on Wednesday night and left the Indian camp. The team management has taken a call to rest Bumrah to ensure the 30-year-old 'can adequately recover' for the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
It has been reported that the initial plan of the team management was to rest Bumrah in the second Test at Pune but the team's defeat in the series opener at Bengaluru forced a change of plans. Bumrah will rejoin the team when they depart for Australia.
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India will enter the Mumbai Test with the aim of ensuring they are not whitewashed in a three-match Test series at home for the first time in history. The defeats in the first two Tests have left the team with a mountain to climb to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Even if India win at Wankhede, they will need to register victories in at least three Tests in Australia. Bumrah will be arguably India's most important player Down Under as not only is he the team's x-factor but there will added pressure on him to lead an inexperienced pace attack in Mohammed Shami's absence.
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Bumrah was key to India's victory in the Test series on Australian soil in 2018-19 and 2020-21. Overall, he has played seven Tests in Australia and taken 32 wickets at a stunning bowling average of 21.25 with one five-wicket haul to his name too.