Mumbai: India’s pace bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah may miss the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
Bumrah pulled out of Wednesday’s opening T20 International against South Africa at Thiruvananthapuram after complaining of back pain during Team India’s match-eve practice session.
Now, sources in BCCI have said that Bumrah could be out of action for quite a long time due to stress fracture on the back.
“Bumrah is not going to play the World T20 for sure. He has a serious back condition. It’s a stress fracture and he could be out for up to six months,” PTI quoted a senior BCCI official as saying.
Bumrah’s absence will be a body blow for India’s chances in the World Cup, to be played Down Under from October 16-November 13. Spinning allrounder Ravindra Jadeja was earlier ruled out with a knee injury which required surgery.
If the 28-year-old Bumrah does miss out, the selectors will name either of the standbys Mohammad Shami or Deepak Chahar as his replacement in the 15-man squad.
India will begin their campaign with a marquee clash against Pakistan on October 23 at Melbourne.
In the last edition of the T20 World Cup, played around the same time in the UAE, India failed to advance to the knockout stage after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand.
