Team India suffered a huge blow as a back injury has ruled Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The team will begin their campaign on October 23 against the arch-rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Meanwhile, former all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and veteran pacer Dale Steyn have expressed who can replace Bumrah in India’s T20 World Cup squad.
A couple of names have been going around as the BCCI takes time to name the replacement. Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, who recently recovered from COVID-19, is the front-runner to make it to the 15-member squad.
Speaking on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Live’, Sanjay Bangar said:
“There were really small signs of concern, because when Jasprit Bumrah did not play the first match, then he played the second game, and then suddenly, he was rested. You suddenly start to think whether this is serious, because he had been out on rest and rehab for a long time and he was somebody who was given a task of strengthening.”
“It comes as a huge blow because an Indian attack without Jasprit Bumrah means that a lot of teams will start thinking differently as to how they would approach their batting against the Indian bowling attack. So, a huge blow for India, but again, in sport, one man’s loss is another man’s opportunity. Hopefully, maybe a Deepak Chahar or Shami or Arshdeep can be there and leave a mark on the World Cup Down Under”, he further added.
As India are searching for Bumrah's replacement for #T20WC2022 and are fretting about Mohammed Shami's fitness and health, @mdsirajofficial is putting on a show of pace bowling against South Africa in ODIs. #INDvSA
— Mayank (@kmayank9) October 11, 2022
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement was officially slated to be announced on Sunday, October 9. However, no clarification has come yet and everyone is waiting for that as well.
“Its a tough one” – Dale Steyn on Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement
Former South African pacer Dale Steyn opined that whoever replaces Jasprit Burmrah will have to take their game a level up to fulfil the boots of the injured pacer. Steyn stated:
“It’s a tough one. You can hope that the World Cup brings an opportunity for somebody to kind of be better than they actually are sometimes. They perform way better than they normally would. So, whoever takes his place, I hope that would be the case for them.
“Whoever gets selected, You probably want them to raise their game by a small percentage because of the hole that they are filling. Somebody like Bumrah, it’s so difficult to fill his place. He is such a world-class player. India will miss him tremendously in this World Cup,” he added.
As far as Team India’s World Cup campaign preparations are concerned they beat Western Australia XI by 13 runs in an exhibition match at the WACA in Perth on Monday, October 10. Before their Super 12 opener, they will be playing two warm-up fixtures against Australia and New Zealand on the 17th and 19th respectively as well.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
