Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 was in discussion after his back injury. But on Monday, in a media release, BCCI officially revealed the decision regarding Bumrah’s participation as he has been ruled out of the World Cup in Australia. The decision was taken after a detailed assessment of Bumrah’s injury and in consultation with the specialists.
With the official confirmation, Bumrah has become the 2nd player of India to miss the tournament after all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Jadeja was ruled out last month due to a knee injury.
Bumrah has been named part of the ongoing South Africa T20I series. But he was recently ruled out of the home series after complaining of pain during practice. After being taken for a scan, he has sent to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for a detailed prognosis of the injury.
After the England tour in July, he suffered from back spasms and was side-lined for over 2 months. Then he returned for the Australia T20I series. But he was not featured in the first match as skipper Rohit admitted that the pacer has had an eased back. Then he played the second and third matches in the series. It was on the eve of the South Africa series that he has suffered a back injury again.
Bumrah had to deal with a stress fracture back before in 2019. He didn’t need surgery back then but he had to endure a long lay-off at that time. But this time, the lay-off will cause him to miss the chance to play in the World Cup.
With the official announcement, team India’s worst nightmare has come true. India’s premier fast bowler who can lead the team to win the tournament is now missing the big event. His availability at the event was in discussion since the coach Rahul Dravid and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly refused to rule him out of the squad. However, the wait is over and now it’s time for thinking about the replacement.
But a replacement for such an extraordinary player is not an easy task. The void left by Bumrah cannot be filled easily by another player. The management is still thinking of a second option for him. The decision whether it will be one of the reserve players (Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar) or someone outside the list (Mohammed Siraj) will be decided soon.
Siraj was recently named as Bumrah’s replacement for the ongoing South Africa series. But Shami who is yet to play a T20I for India since the World Cup 2021 was seen warming up in the nets.
The main problem with the Indian bowling is leaking runs in the final overs. The same cost India to lose 2 crucial games in Asia Cup Super 4s (against Pakistan and Sri Lanka) and in the opening T20I against Australia. A similar scene was repeated in the second South Africa T20I match, but the batters somehow scored a big total to rescue the team. It was only Bumrah who never leaked runs in the crucial overs and this might severely hurt India in the coming World Cup.
The former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar even admits that the absence of Bumrah will surely be a huge blow for India in the T20 World Cup. “Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from the Indian team for the World Cup will hurt India considerably. There’s no other player in the Indian team, with due respect to every other player, whose absence means so much than Bumrah,”.
In Gavaskar’s opinion, Axar Patel can replace Bumrah in the game. “Ravindra Jadeja’s absence is being made up to a great extent by Axar Patel and the way he is bowling does give the belief that he can limit the runs as well as take wickets”.
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