The Indian Cricket Board has named Mohammed Siraj as the replacement for injured Jasprit Bumrah for the ongoing three-match T20I series against South Africa. The decision has come after the unfortunate news of Bumrah having been ruled out of the T20I series against South Africa as well as the upcoming World Cup due to a back stress fracture.
An Indian Cricket Board official said to the PTI, “Bumrah has sustained a back injury and is currently under the supervision of the Indian Cricket Board Medical team and is confirmed out of the tournament.”
“Bumrah is not going to play the T20 World Cup for sure. He has a serious back condition. It’s a stress fracture and he could be out for a period of six months,” a senior Indian Cricket Board official had confirmed to PTI.
The news of Bumrah’s unavailability has rocked the Indian cricketing world as a great deal of responsibility for India’s success rested 28-year-old bowler’s shoulders. India crashed out in an embarrassing fashion at the Asia Cup 2022 as Bumrah was not playing and fans have started to dread the same at the upcoming 20-20 World Cup in Australia next month.
Bumrah who was a premium fast bowler has been replaced with another 28-year-old with a similar pace. Siraj has played just five T20I matches for India in the past having taken just five wickets in them. The Hyderabad born however has a good experience in Indian T20 League where he has played 65 matches and taken 59 wickets. He will travel to the Indian team for the second and third T20I against South Africa which is scheduled for Guwahati and Indore on 2nd and 4th October respectively.
Bumrah’s replacement for the World Cup 2022 has not been announced yet. Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav are the prime candidates for the role.
India Squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Umesh Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj
