Amidst the hullabaloo regarding the fitness status of Jasprit Bumrah, who reportedly complained of pain in his back and was pulled out of the South Africa T20I series, a new report might come as a glimmer of hope for Indian team fans ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022.
Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is not suffering from a stress fracture of the back, as was initially feared and reported by the media, but a "stress reaction," Times of India reported thanks to some reliable sources in the BCCI.
This means the injury suffered by Bumrah is not as serious as it was deemed earlier and the recovery period for the pacer will be much shorter. However, it remains to be seen whether the Indian team management risks taking an injured Bumrah and playing him in the T20 World Cup at the possibility of aggravating his injury further.
"Scans by the BCCI medical team at the National Cricket Academy (in Bangalore) have revealed that it's not a stress fracture, but 'stress reaction', which is one step less than a stress fracture. It takes 4-6 months to recover from a stress fracture, but normally only about 4-6 weeks to recover from a stress reaction," the source said.
WATCH: “Safar jari hai,” Mohammad Shami shares a video of his bowling after recovering from COVID-19
It's doubtful that Bumrah would depart with the Indian team for the T20 World Cup on October 5 from Mumbai to Perth, where the team will prepare for the tournament. In any case, India can wait till October 15 before taking a final call on whether to include an injured Bumrah in their squad or not.
"If a squad member is injured between 16th September (initial submissions) and start of the support period (October 15), they can be replaced without going through the Event Technical Committee," revealed a source in the know of things to TOI.
Meanwhile, it was also reported that the Indian team will travel to Australia on a normal commercial flight from Mumbai to Perth in Australia on the night of October 5. With the Covid impact lessening, the team will no longer travel in chartered flights.
The T20 World Cup 2022 will also not be played in a bio-bubble and no Covid tests will be done unless a player complains of symptoms.
(Times Of India Inputs)
