As of now, there is a lot of uncertainty and confusion over the availability of India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the Men’s T20 World Cup, starting next month in Australia. Some media reports state that Bumrah has a serious stress fracture in the back, which will keep him out of the game for four to six months. On the other hand, there are some speculations which say that the pacer might just make it to the World Cup if his recurrence of back injury may not be serious in nature and requires healing time of four to six weeks. With the changes to squads subject to the approval of International Cricket Council (ICC) can happen till October 15, India still have some arsenal in their pace attack and have time in hand to see how can the big gap left by Bumrah’s potential absence be filled by the other Indian pacers.
If Bumrah is not available for the mega event then Indian seamers who are in World Cup squad as well as in the reserves:
Mohammed Shami: With an experienced hand like Bumrah in doubt for World Cup participation, it now makes it difficult to look past Mohammed Shami for the T20 World Cup. For starters, Shami hasn’t played a T20I for India since they crashed out of the Super 12 stage of the Men’s T20 World Cup in the UAE last year.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: The senior pacer has been one of the busiest bowlers in T20Is this year, picking 32 wickets in 24 matches at an average of 17.56 and economy rate of 7.21. Though he earned Player of the Series awards in series against South Africa and England on the back of his strikes upfront, Bhuvneshwar’s death bowling has emerged as a late concern.
Deepak Chahar: Seen as more of a back-up of Bhuvneshwar, Deepak Chahar is back into competitive cricket after an injury forced lay-off of seven months. Though the playing opportunities have been sporadic, Chahar had an outstanding spell with the new ball, picking two wickets with his famed swing bowling to reduce South Africa to 9/5 at Thiruvananthapuram.
Arshdeep Singh: Apart from Ravi Bishnoi’s leg-spin, Arshdeep Singh has been one of the great finds for India in T20Is this year. Though he is seen as more of a death overs specialist due to his ability to land yorkers and hold his nerve, Arshdeep showed that he can be effective with the new ball too, seen from his triple burst in his first over at Thiruvananthapuram to break the back of South Africa’s innings.
Harshal Patel: Emerging as a key player for India since his debut in November last year post superlative performances in the IPL, Patel has been known for his accuracy and hard to read slower balls as well as a dipping yorker apart from smashing big hits with the bat. But since his return after recovering from a rib injury, Patel is yet to be at his best. In the series win over Australia, he picked just one wicket in three matches, leaking 99 runs at an economy rate of 12.37, including 22 runs in the 18th over. Earlier, on Friday, the All-India Senior Selection Committee named Mohd Siraj as replacement for injured Bumrah for the remainder of the T20I series against South Africa