Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 with a back injury, causing a massive setback to the Indian team which has been struggling with death overs bowling lately.
While the BCCI is yet to name his replacement, it is expected that either of Mohammad Shami or Deepak Chahar will take Bumrah’s place in the squad. Notably, Shami and Chahar were picked as T20 World Cup standbys last month but the duo is also struggling with fitness currently.
Amid the recent development, former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that opposition sides will reconsider their batting approach against India since Bumrah isn’t part of the attack anymore.
In Bumrah's absence, Bangar expects Arshdeep Singh and one of Shami and Chahar to rise to the occasion during the marquee event in Australia.
"There were really small signs of concern, because when Jasprit Bumrah did not play the first match (against Australia at Mohali), then he played the second game (at Nagpur), and then suddenly he was rested (Bumrah played in Hyderabad but didn't play Thiruvananthapuram match due to back complaint). You suddenly start to think whether this is serious, because he had been out on rest and rehab for a long time, and he was somebody who was given a task of strengthening," said Bangar on 'Cricket Live' show on Star Sports.
"It comes as a huge blow because an Indian attack without Jasprit Bumrah means that a lot of teams will start thinking differently as to how they would approach their batting against the Indian bowling attack."
"So a huge blow for India, but again, in sport, one man's loss is another man's opportunity. Hopefully, maybe a Deepak Chahar or Shami or Arshdeep can be there and leave a mark on the World Cup Down Under," he added.
South African pace legend Dale Steyn, who was also part of the show, acknowledged that India will terribly miss the services of Bumrah and expects his replacement to step up to the plate.
"It's a tough one. You can hope that the World Cup brings an opportunity for somebody to kind of be better than they actually are sometimes, they perform way better than they normally would. So whoever takes his place, I hope that would be the case for them.
"Whoever gets selected, you probably want them to raise their game by a small percentage because of the hole that they are filling. Somebody like Bumrah, it's so difficult to fill his place. He is such a world class player. India will miss him tremendously in this World Cup."
(With IANS inputs)
