Team India were dealt a couple of huge blows in the run-up to the T20 World Cup as two of their biggest players were ruled out of the tournament due to injuries. If Ravindra Jadeja’s untimely knee injury wasn’t enough, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s back injury resurfacing was a further blow to India’s chances, who are already struggling with their death bowling. India replaced Bumrah with Mohammed Shami and even though skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that the 28-year-old pacer’s absence will be huge, the risk wasn’t worth taking to play him in the T20 World Cup.
Bumrah had returned after a two-month long layoff and played a couple of matches against Australia, however, the injury aggravated and he couldn’t play the South Africa series and eventually on October 3, BCCI announced that he indeed was ruled out of the T20 World Cup.
Speaking at the captains’ day media event in Melbourne on Saturday, Rohit said that the team spoke to several specialists and after not getting a positive response, it was the best decision not only for the side but also the pacer, who has a long career in front of him.
“Bumrah is a quality player, he has been playing very well over the years. Unfortunately, injuries happen. But you can’t do anything about it. We spoke to a lot of specialists about his injury but we didn’t get a positive response. World Cup. Yes, it’s very important, but his career, for us, is more important. He is just 28 years old and he has a lot of cricket left in him.
“So, we can’t take such risks. All the specialists we spoke to, also suggested the same. There is a lot of cricket left to be played. He will play a lot more matches and win a lot more matches for India in the future. There is no doubt about it.
“But his absence is a blow for us,” he said.
Team India will hope that Shami gets some game time in the warm-up matches and the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel can put their hand up in Bumrah’s absence.
