Bumrah hasn’t played any cricket since the T20I series at home against Australia last September. He has been at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for the past two months where he has slowly increased his bowling workloads after undergoing surgery in New Zealand for a back injury. He had a few practice games and the NCA staff, led by VVS Laxman, is believed to be satisfied with Bumrah’s progress.

Prasidh, meanwhile, is returning after extensive rehabilitation for a lumbar stress fracture that had kept him out of all cricket since the tour of Zimbabwe in August 2022. He didn’t undergo surgery initially and had been working towards a full recovery prior to the Ranji Trophy, but was advised surgery in December after another assessment.

Many of the players picked for the T20 cricket competition in the Asian Games were also selected to tour Ireland. The ODI regulars were rested to prepare for the Asia Cup starting on August 30 in Sri Lanka, just a week after the final Ireland T20I on August 23. The team management is considering a conditioning camp in Bengaluru prior to their departure to Sri Lanka.

In all, seven members of India’s Caribbean-bound T20I squad, including seamers Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh, feature in the side for the Ireland tour. Ravi Bishnoi, Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar are among the spin-bowling options for India.