Pollard lifts Jasprit Bumrah on MI return but reminded, ‘Aaraam se Polly bhai, dobara injure mat kar dena’ by fans

Mumbai Indians rolled out the blue carpet on Sunday as Jasprit Bumrah made a much-awaited return, joining the camp ahead of the side's face-off against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. An emotional welcome greeted Bumrah; after being out of action for months due to a back injury, the star pacer trained with Mumbai Indians for the first time on Sunday — and Kieron Pollard, MI's batting coach, made sure it was a moment to remember.

As Bumrah walked into the Wankhede Stadium after nearly two months of intense rehab at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, Pollard lifted him off the ground in celebration and said, “Welcome Mufasa!” – a reference to popular animated movie, ‘The Lion King’, where Mufasa, the lion, is the king of the jungle. The MI camp responded with applause and laughter.

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The fans, however, had other concerns with the video. They cautioned Pollard to take it easy and not injure Bumrah again.

Bumrah’s absence was keenly felt by MI, who lost three of their first four matches this season. But the inconsistent spell could end on Monday, when Mumbai take on Rajat Patidar's RCB in a crucial home game. MI’s head coach, Mahela Jayawardene, confirmed the news everyone was waiting to hear.

“Yeah, he is available. He is training today, so he should be available tomorrow,” Jayawardene said in the pre-match media interaction.

Bumrah had picked up a back injury during the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney back in January and was subsequently ruled out of the limited-overs series against England and the Champions Trophy. The BCCI medical team carefully managed his road to recovery, and his return is set to provide a massive boost to MI’s bowling depth.

Positive news on Rohit, too

The five-time champions could receive another lift, as Jayawardene also offered a positive update on Rohit Sharma, who missed the last game after suffering a blow to the knee.

“Ro (Rohit) looks good. He is going to bat today. It was just an unfortunate impact on his leg while batting so, it was not comfortable. We were travelling yesterday. He will have a hit today and then we will do an assessment on that,” the coach added.

When asked about any other injury concerns in the camp, Jayawardene replied, “Not that I know of.”

With Bumrah back and Rohit likely to be available, Mumbai Indians will be aiming to bring their campaign back on track.