Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022, Team India have suffered an injury scare as star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the ongoing T20I series against South Africa due to a stress fracture on his lower back.
While some reports in the media claim that Bumrah won’t be able to take part in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, India head coach Rahul Dravid on Saturday (October 1) said he won't go deep into the pacer’s medical reports and will wait for an official confirmation regarding his availability for the showpiece tournament.
"We are awaiting the official confirmation on the next steps. As of now, he's officially ruled out of this (SA) series. But we will see what happens over the next few days," Dravid told reporters on the eve of the second T20I against South Africa.
"Honestly, I've not gone deeply into the medical reports, I rely on the experts to tell me what it is. They ruled him out for this series and he's being assessed. We will know in due course what happens in the future," he added.
"Obviously till he's completely ruled out, and we get an official confirmation that he's ruled out, we will always be hopeful. We will always hope for the best just for us as a team and Jasprit as an individual," he further said.
Having missed out on the Asia Cup 2022 due to back injury, Jasprit Bumrah made his comeback to the Indian team against Australia last week in the second T20I, which was held in Nagpur. But after playing the last two T20Is, he picked the same injury again.
Before the first T20I between India and South Africa at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday (September 28), the BCCI had said that Bumrah was ruled out of the match after complaining of back pain during the practice session.
"To a large extent we manage to get everything. Not everything will be perfect. It happens, it's part and parcel of the game, we are not the only team which suffers from injuries.
"Obviously if they happen closer to big tournaments they can upset your plans a little bit. Everyone is making good efforts to minimise the injuries as much as possible," Dravid defended their workload management.
There has been a lot of debate on who is going to replace Bumrah if he fails to recover in time as only three weeks are left for India’s T20 World Cup campaign Down Under.
However, the head coach is not too concerned about it.
"We are quite comfortable that we have got all the skills that allow us to play different combinations and different kinds of XIs based on the wickets and oppositions. That's really important in a World cup when you play in 4-5 different venues.
"You need to have that little bit of versatility and flexibility in your squad that allows you to change things.
"Over the last few series, we probably have not been able to play that squad due to a variety of reasons. But most of the guys in the 15 now have had a pretty decent amount of cricket in the last six months."
(With PTI inputs)
