Veteran pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah is not suffering from a stress fracture in his back, as he was initially feared and reported by the media, but a “stress reaction,” TOI has reported through reliable sources in the BCCI. This means that his injury isn’t as bad as it looked initially, and the recovery period will be less too. And, it will be interesting to see if India add him in the team.
“Scans by the BCCI medical team at the National Cricket Academy (in Bangalore) have revealed that it’s not a stress fracture, but ‘stress reaction’, which is one step less than stress fracture. It takes 4-6 months to recover from a stress fracture, but normally only about 4-6 weeks to recover from a stress reaction,” the source said.
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“If a squad member is injured between 16th September (initial submissions) and start of the support period (October 15), they can be replaced without going through the Event Technical Committee,” shared a source in the know of things to TOI.
However, in a bid to accustomed to the local conditions, Team India will depart from Mumbai to Perth in Australia on the night of October 5, much before the upcoming T20 World Cup. And, for the first time since Covid struck perhaps, they will travel in a ‘normal’ commercial flight, and not a chartered one.
“There’s no bio-bubble. So no need to travel in a chartered flight now,” said a source.
Interestingly, with the threat of Covid-19 having gone down, the tournament will not be played in a bio-bubble. “During the entire World Cup, there will be no Covid-19 tests done, unless someone complains of symptoms,” a source further added. Last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE took place in a strict bio-bubble, with all the participants undergoing regular Covid tests too as well.
Meanwhile, former cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that Jasprit Bumrah’s injury has exposed Team India’s poor selection for the T20 World Cup as well. Notably, India added Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh as their fast bowlers in the squad.
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Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “I have always felt that Team India should have picked five bowlers in their squad (for the T20 World Cup). Right now, Bhuvi’s (Bhuvneshwar) confidence is low, while Harshal is also looking to gain confidence, Arshdeep is doing well, but he has only played 12 games, so he is still a kid in the team.”
“If Bumrah is not available, then India will have to make a tough call between Shami and Chahar. Chahar is better with the new ball and can bat as well, but on some pitches India might need extra pace, which Chahar doesn’t have. Had they chosen five fast bowlers, half of their problem would have been solved. It’s very important to know who could be Bumrah’s replacement in the team, but that’s not happening. There are a lot of questions. Shami is at the NCA. Mohammed Siraj has been picked, but should he play in Guwahati? If yes, then whom should he replace? And if he doesn’t play, how can the team figure out if he can be Bumrah’s replacement?,” he concluded.
