The Indian cricket team suffered a huge blow when Jasprit Bumrah was officially ruled out from the ICC T20 World Cup that will take place in Australia. BCCI on Monday said in a statement: "The BCCI Medical team has ruled out Team India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad. The decision was taken following a detailed assessment and in consultation with the specialists."
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that it is almost impossible to fill the void left by Bumrah. Gavaskar wrote a column for Mid-Day and stated, "Jasprit Bumrah's absence from the Indian team for the World Cup will hurt India considerably. There's no other player in the Indian team, with due respect to every other player, whose absence means so much than Bumrah”.
He further added,” We saw in the two games that he played how effective he was and how his presence in the team galvanized the other bowlers. Whether he made the comeback too soon, is now something in the nature of conjecture, but the fact remains that his absence is a huge blow for India’s prospects in the T20 World Cup. The way Deepak Chahar and young Arshdeep Singh exploited the conditions in Thiruvananthapuram does give hope that, with a bit of luck, they can fill in a fair bit of the hole left by Bumrah's absence."
The BCCI is yet to announce a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah in the World Cup squad. Players like Mohammed Shami, Deepak Chahar, and Mohammed Siraj are the top names who might replace him. The star pacer also missed the Asia Cup 2022 due to his back problem and made a comeback in the last two T20Is against Australia.
Earlier, Ravindra Jadeja was also ruled out from the T20 World Cup. Gavaskar spoke about the comparison between Jadeja and Axar and said, "Ravindra Jadeja's absence is being made up to a great extent by Axar Patel, and the way he is bowling does give the belief that he can limit the runs as well as take wickets. Over the years, he has added variety by the deft use of the crease and also the delivery speeds and angles. All the experience gathered in the IPL has been put to great use by the left-handed all-rounder. He will once again be the player to watch out for," said the legendary India batter.”
Team India are currently playing a three-match ODI series against South Africa. Ind vs SA 3rd T20 International will be played in Indore on October 4. After this, the Indian team will fly for the T20 World Cup 2022 on October 5.