Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is out of T20 World Cup due to a back stress fracture, BCCI sources said on Thursday.
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Bumrah didn’t travel with the team to Thiruvananthapuram for the series opener against South Africa, though he played two T20s against Australia.
“Bumrah is not going to play the World T20 for sure. He has a serious back condition. It’s a stress fracture and he could be out for a period of six months,” via BCCI source [Via Times of India]
The 28-year-old fast bowler is the second senior star player to be ruled out after Ravindra Jadeja.
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Acknowledging it to be huge blow for India,  the official adds, “Losing Bumrah and Jadeja will be huge for India. We didn’t expect that things will pan out as they have. He was rested for the Asia Cup precisely to manage his workload management. Now it remains a question if he was even fit enough to play the Australia series,”
Bumrah had already missed Asia Cup in UAE because of the back spasms he has constantly had to deal with recently, which prompted the board to ensure the injury doesn’t aggravate just before the World Cup.
Bumrah’s replacement
The national selectors are yet to meet to name a replacement for Bumrah.
Mohammad Siraj will be the replacement according to Sportz18.com , he has had the experience of bowling in big matches, is likely to be considered for the South Africa series as well.
Bumrah rested and rehabilitated at the NCA in Bengaluru before returning to the side for the Australia series.
Rohit Sharma admitted during the first fixture that his star pacer was being slowly eased back in as he didn’t feature in the first game.
Jasprit played the next two but missed the first fixture against South Africa on September 28 after complaining of back pain on the eve of the game.
The NCA staff will start the investigation and if they detect the injury to be serious, Jaspreet can be out for more than six weeks.
Normally a back injury of that nature needs a minimum four weeks to heal and India’s first game in the World Cup – against Pakistan at the MCG on October 23 – is just about three weeks away.
