Rohit Sharma-led Team India find themselves in a tough situation due to the unavailability of Jasprit Bumrah. The star pacer has been dealing with a back injury and has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup, which gets underway from October 16 in Australia. Bumrah’s absence in the line-up has been hurting the team’s plan and it was once again evident in the T20I series against South Africa.
After making a stunning start in the series opener, the pacers failed to replicate the performance as India gave away more than 200 runs in the following two matches. In the final T20I in Indore, which South Africa won by 49 runs, the trio of Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, and Deepak Chahar conceded above 40 runs in their respective four-over quota.
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While the BCCI is yet to name Bumrah’s replacement for the showpiece event, team captain Rohit gave a massive update on the same following the conclusion of the match. Addressing the matter the skipper said that any decision in this regard will be taken after the team reaches Australia and the bowler’s experience on Australian conditions will also be taken into consideration.
“Bumrah is out of the World Cup, so we need to find a bowler who has the experience of bowling in Australia. Not sure who that bowler is going to be, we will see once we travel to Australia, we’ll find it out there,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Meanwhile, speaking at the post-match press conference, head coach Rahul Dravid was asked whether senior pace bowler Mohammed Shami can replace Bumrah in the World Cup squad. Notably, Shami and Deepak Chahar were earlier named in India’s reserves list for the showpiece event.
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“Bumrah’s absence is a big loss, he’s been a great player but it happens, it’s an opportunity for someone else to stand up. We’ll miss him, his personality around the group,” Dravid said after South Africa defeated India by 49 runs in the dead rubber. “We’ll have a look. We’ve time since October 15, so, Shami is obviously someone who’s in the standbys. Unfortunately for us, he couldn’t play in this series (due to being struck by Covid-19). It would’ve been idea from that perspective, but he’s in the National Cricket Academy at the moment.”
“We’ve to get reports as to how he’s recovering, and what’s his status after 14-15 days of covid, and we’ll take a call. Once I get a report on how he’s feeling, then obviously we (I and the selectors) can really take a call on how to move forward on it,” Dravid concluded.
