BCCI President Sourav Ganguly denied reports of Jasprit Bumrah’s exclusion from the T20 World Cup. It was announced on Thursday that India’s number one pacer would miss the marquee tournament with a ‘fractured back’, but Ganguly insisted that Bumrah still expects to board the flight to Australia. “No. Bumrah is not out of the World Cup yet. We’ll see what happens,” Ganguly told RevSportz in a video posted on his Twitter account. “Fingers crossed. I don’t know (if he will go to Australia). We will find out in 3-4 days. Fingers crossed. Don’t rule him out yet,” Ganguly said.
It was earlier reported that Bumrah might miss months of cricket action due to a back injury. The Indian fast bowler was also forced to miss the 2022 Asia Cup and made his comeback in India’s T20I series against Australia earlier this month. Bumrah was also named in the side squad for the series against South Africa, which was India’s last T20I assignment before the World Cup, which begins on October 22.
The 28-year-old pacer is widely regarded as one of the most ferocious fast bowlers in modern cricket and India will be hoping for Bumrah’s miraculous recovery in the T20 World Cup. Temper is part of a four-man fast bowling attack in the marquee tournament that also includes Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel.
Additionally, right-arm fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar have been put on standby for the T20 World Cup. Ganguly’s optimism over Bumrah’s injury comes as a relief to Indian cricket fans who already suffered a setback with Ravindra Jadeja’s injury earlier this month. The Indian all-rounder suffered a knee injury at the Asia Cup that ruled him out of the October-November global tournament.
However, Axar Patel has performed consistently in the role of Jadeja in India’s recent T20I tours against Australia and South Africa. Bumrah has barely featured in India’s T20I outings since the side’s return to action after the 2022 Indian Premier League. Temper has only played in 3 T20Is (1 v England, 2 v Australia) out of 24 so far. Thus, forcing Bumrah out of the T20 World Cup is also expected to be a severe blow to BCCI’s workload management policy.
