Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India batter Tilak Varma has provided encouraging fitness updates on teammates Abhishek Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the side’s ICC T20 World Cup encounter against Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, while adding that final decisions on their participation will be taken closer to match time.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Abhishek had been hospitalised earlier this week after suffering a stomach infection and missed training on Tuesday evening. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had earlier confirmed that the young opener was down with a stomach bug, raising doubts about his availability. Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Tilak revealed that the left-hander has now been discharged and is recovering well.
“When we reached Delhi, he (Abhishek) went to the hospital for the examination. I think he was discharged today, and he is doing well. We have got one more day for the game. Hopefully, we will decide by tomorrow how he feels, and we will go with it,” Tilak said.If Abhishek fails to recover in time, Sanju Samson could partner Ishan Kishan at the top of the order.
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Tilak also addressed concerns around pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who missed India’s campaign opener against the USA. The left-handed batter sounded optimistic about the star pacer’s return.“He (Bumrah) is absolutely fine now. He is doing better. As I said, we have got one more day. Hopefully, he will be back in the team. If he is doing better, the team will take a call. I think he will be back tomorrow for the second game,” he added.Beyond the Namibia clash, Tilak said the team is already gearing up for the high-voltage contest against Pakistan in Colombo on February 15. “We are very excited to play… We are watching how other teams are doing, and the preparation is on. Now we are in the match zone, and the planning will start soon,” he concluded.
