NEW DELHI, Sept 29: Though there is no official confirmation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) so far, the India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is virtually ruled out of the T20 Cricket World Cup to be played in Australia next month.
The signs have not been great as Bumrah pulled out of India’s series opener against South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. “Bumrah is not going to play the World T20 for sure. He has a serious back condition. It’s a stress fracture and he could be out for a period of six months,” a senior BCCI official said. The BCCI had informed of Bumrah’s injury just minutes before the toss took place at the Greenfield Stadium on Wednesday. “Jasprit Bumrah complained of back pain in during India’s practice session on Tuesday. The BCCI Medical Team assessed him. He is ruled out of the first T20I,” BCCI had tweeted.
“As of now he is at the NCA and the rehab will be a long and arduous one. Yes, World T20 is important but he is still young and India’s biggest bowling asset. You can’t take risk with him,” the official said. Back stress fractures do not require surgery but a lot of time to heal.
Bumrah, who has a slinging action, puts a lot of pressure on his back during bowling. Former West Indies pace bowling great Michael Holding had assessed that Bumrah was always a candidate for back injuries.
The 28-year old Bumrah, who had also missed the Asia Cup due to his back problem, and was training at the National Cricket Academy, played the last two T20Is against Australia but he did not travel to Thiruvananthapuram with the team. With bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is already out of the team due to a knee surgery, Bumrah’s absence may hit the Team India further hard.
India have the likes of Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar in the standby list for the T20 World Cup and one of them could be drafted into the main squad now. Chahar had a good showing the match against South Africa and could get the nod ahead of Shami due to his superior batting skills down the order as well.
But India’s death bowling has been an issue and captain Rohit Sharma himself has pointed it out. Veteran paceman Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been under the pump due to his poor performances and the pressure to deliver will be on the shoulders of the young Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel in Bumrah’s absence.
(Manas Dasgupta)
