Team India star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is healing a back injury and will miss the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. According to several reports, Bumrah will be out of action for at least six months due to a stress fracture. However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not revealed any information regarding his injury.
There is a lot of debate about who should replace Bumrah at the T20 World Cup. So far, the selectors have not named a replacement for him. Maybe they want to observe and see how the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan perform in the ongoing ODI series against South Africa.
In the meantime, former South Africa seamer Dale Steyn has named his first-choice bowler to replace Bumrah at the ICC’s marquee event. During a chat show on Star Sports India, Steyn stated that while India will definitely miss Bumrah in Australia, fast bowler Mohammed Shami tops his list among the replacement options.
“Once the opposition hears that Jasprit Bumrah is unavailable, they all breathe a sigh of relief. He’s such a wonderful bowler. He’s played around the world, he’s an impact player, he can bowl at any time in the match. His execution of skills is on point, and India rely heavily on him. It’s a pity that he is not at the World Cup, because me, as an spectator, I actually want to go and watch him play,” said Steyn.
“I’m sad and I feel for him. As a replacement, I would look at someone who can qualify with similar experience. Mohammed Shami is probably the guy I would go with. He’s been around the world, he can swing the ball and he can bowl quickly when he wants to,” the Proteas legend added further.
Steyn also spoke about other options but insisted that he has written down Shami’s name as his first-choice bowler.
“You’ve got a bunch of other guys as well. You’ve got Deepak who has got swing, Siraj who has got skills, and Avesh has some good pace. But I think the top of the pile would be Shami, I’ve got him written down here. If he’s fully fit, he’s somebody the opposition do fear. But India would be missing Bumrah for sure,” concluded Steyn.
