Why is Jasprit Bumrah not playing India vs Sri Lanka ODIs?

India's star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the three-match ODI seies against Sri Lanka starting from January 10, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.

Bumrah, who was to finally make an international appearance after four months, will have to wait for some more time as he is yet to fully recuperate from his back injury. 

BCCI is yet to announce a replacement for Bumrah as Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Siraj and Mohammad Shami are already part of the main pace attack. 

Why no replacement? The reason why the board didn't announce any replacement is because Bumrah was added to the squad only on January 3, days after the initial squad of the ODI series was announced. 

• The team already has a good pace attack with Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh leading the pack

Bumrah struggling with back injury: Bumrah, no doubt, remains the finest Indian pacer, but his back injury has also affected his form. This was quite evident in the three-match T20I series against Australia in September. Since then, Bumrah has been out of action. 

Rehabilitation in Bengaluru: Bumrah has been at BCCI's National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for his rehabilitation. When India's limited-over squads were announced on December 27, the selectors were cautious about naming him as there were apprehensions about his back injury resurfacing.

• The initial plan was for Bumrah to undergo match simulations workloads at the NCA before making his international comeback, and it was understood that he passed that test in Bengaluru. But, when Bumrah started practicing in Mumbai, he felt stiffness in his side. Bumrah will now have rest and rehab and will get ready to join India's preparatory camp, which is set to begin on February 1 for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
• He is expected to miss the ODI and T2OI series against New Zealand that starts on January 18, 2022.
• After winning the three-match T20I series by 2-1, India will now face Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series starting from January 10 at Guwahati.