Jasprit Bumrah undergoes back surgery in New Zealand, likely to be out for 6 months

India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has reportedly undergone back surgery in New Zealand as he faces a race against time to recover in time for the 50-over World Cup in October-November this year.

The surgery took place on Monday. Bumrah is expected to remain in New Zealand till end of March and after which, the fast bowler will start his rehabilitation under the watchful eyes of BCCI's medical staff, reported ESPNCricinfo.

The report further revealed that the BCCI's medical staff is expecting Bumrah to resume training and bowling by August, and his workload will increase slowly after that, with the plan to get him completely fit for the World Cup.

The latest surgery meant Mumbai Indians (MI) will be without Bumrah for the upcoming season, which is scheduled to kickstart on March 31. MI's opening game is on April 2 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Chinnaswamy Stadium. Bumrah will also miss the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final in June in England if India qualify.

The persistent back issues have kept Bumrah away from action for nearly six months. The 29-year-old bowler last played for India in September 2022. The injury sidelined the fast bowler from the Asia Cup last year, although he returned to the squad for India's subsequent home series against Australia and South Africa. He played two T20Is against Australia, but missed the South Africa series with a recurrence of a back injury, and was eventually ruled out of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022.

While Bumrah was expected to make a comeback in India's home series against Sri Lanka after being named in the squad initially, he was withdrawn after a niggle.

India are the hosts of the Cricket World Cup this year, and Rohit Sharma and Co will hope to have their ace pacer back in time for the marquee event.

It is understood that the BCCI medical staff at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru had been treating Bumrah's case on an emergency basis and had suggested surgery as a treatment option. The BCCI made the decision to perform the surgery after discussing in length about it with the NCA and Bumrah.

Earlier this year, ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India captain Rohit urged the management to not rush with Bumrah's return, citing there was plenty of cricket left in the year.

"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," Rohit said after India swept New Zealand 3-0 in the ODI series.

"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. 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 at NCA and we are constantly hearing from them," added Rohit.

India are currently gearing up for the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with Australia trailing 2-1. The fourth Test is scheduled to begin on Thursday at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.