Former India captain and current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Sourav Ganguly has not given up yet on Jasprit Bumrah’s participation in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2022 starting on October 16 in Australia. The ace India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was reported to be suffering with a back stress fracture on Thursday and was deemed ruled out for the mega event Down Under.
Jasprit Bumrah had left the Indian squad currently involved in a three-match T20I series against South Africa on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram, where the team played its first game, after complaining of back pain and was sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore for further scans.
The Indian media on Thursday reported that the team is set to play the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 without their premier fast bowler, but the BCCI medical team was willing to wait for a few more days to find out what the advanced scans reveal on the back of the right-arm pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
Sourav Ganguly told the Xtra Time digital channel in Kolkata on Friday that Jasprit “Bumrah is not out of the World Cup yet”. The BCCI president added that he was keeping his ‘fingers crossed’ on the future of the team’s best bowler and a final decision would be taken in the “next two or three days”.
The comments from Sourav Ganguly came after a BCCI media release which said that Jasprit Bumrah had sustained a back injury and was being monitored by its medical team in Bangalore.
Jasprit Bumrah had earlier missed the Asia Cup 2022 tournament due to the same trouble.
According to ESPNcricinfo, a fresh scan on the back of Jasprit Bumrah will be studied by an independent team of medical consultants hired by the BCCI, who will then coordinate with the cricket board’s medical team to determine the future course of action.
The BCCI had meanwhile named the right-arm fast bowler Mohammed Siraj as the replacement for Jasprit Bumrah for the remaining two T20 internationals against South Africa to be played in Guwahati and Indore on October 2 and 4.
Jasprit Bumrah is in a race against time since the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2022 will be leaving for Australia on October 6. The squad will be based in Perth before moving to Brisbane on October 13, where they will play their two warm-up matches against top teams New Zealand and hosts as well as the defending champions in Australia.
