‘There’s no other player in Team India…’ – Sunil Gavaskar on Jasprit Bumrah missing T20 World Cup

On Monday evening (October 03), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah is set to miss the forthcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, which gets underway on October 16. Bumrah’s injury woes were highlighted on September 30, giving sleepless nights to Indian cricket fans worldwide. After the official announcement came, it is likely that senior pacer Mohammed Shami or Deepak Chahar will replace him. The two speedsters were named in the reserves by the BCCI selection committee when the squad was announced early in September.

“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,” BCCI said in a statement, confirming Bumrah’s ouster from the showpiece event Down Under. Bumrah’s absence is a huge dent to Rohit Sharma-led India’s chances of winning their second T20 WC, after the 2007 edition.

Former Indian opener-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar has now reacted to Bumrah’s absence. “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,” Gavaskar wrote in a column for Mid-Day.

ALSO READ | Another injury scare after Jasprit Bumrah? Arshdeep Singh ruled out of India’s 3rd T20I vs South Africa

“We saw in the two games that he played how effective he was and how his presence in the team galvanised 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 Little Master further added.

India will now expect their pacers — such as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh — to rise up to the occasion in Bumrah’s absence and hope for Shami or Chahar to make a big mark in the upcoming ICC event in Australia. In the last year’s edition, Virat Kohli-led India failed to impress and bowed out in the Super 12 round. In their dismal run, Bumrah returned as their most-successful bowler, with seven scalps at an economy of 5.08.