(Cricket news) After playing 2 T20Is against Australia, Jasprit Bumrah missed the 1st T20I against South Africa due to a niggle. Now Bumrah has been diagnosed with a back injury and he has been officially ruled out of the South Africa series. Even though the BCCI hasn't said anything about his availability at the T20 World Cup, reports suggest that he has been ruled out. The physios at the NCA will now take a call on whether Bumrah will have to undergo surgery. If he does go through a surgery then he will not be back until March 2023 at the very least. Mohammed Siraj has been added to the squad for the South Africa series as Mohammed Shami hasn't recovered from Covid.

Shami and Deepak Chahar are the stand-bys in the World Cup squad. Shami is the ideal choice to replace Bumrah as he is the option who can generate pace like no other. The problem is that Shami hasn't played a T20I game in the lead up to the World Cup which is exactly what happened in the last two World Cups as well. There are reports which suggest that he could play the ODI series against South Africa to get match fit. Just over a month ago, the BCCI were not going to consider Shami for T20Is but now they basically have no other option. Shami had a very good IPL where he led the Gujarat Titans bowling attack as they won the trophy. He will be a different bowler to Jasprit Bumrah as Shami excels with the new ball but isn't particularly good at the death. 

Siraj is likely to be named as a backup for the World Cup squad and it could depend on his performance against South Africa. Siraj isn't a bad option to have and it is a mystery of sorts as to why he wasn't in the mix before, especially in the Asia Cup. Bumrah's absence is nothing short of a nightmare for India as he is up there with the best seamers in the world. He doesn't have any direct replacement either and his injury significantly affects India's chances at the World Cup. As per how the pecking order is looking at the moment, India's pace trio at the World Cup should be Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel, which is an attack that lacks pace. It is now time for Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma to come up with a solution and make do with what is available.

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