Big blow for India as back injury rules Bumrah out of T20 WC

PTI

New Delhi, September 29

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was today ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to a back stress fracture, dealing a massive blow to the team’s chances at the ICC event starting next month in Australia.

A BCCI official said that Bumrah will be out of action for six months due to the injury.

“Bumrah is not going to play the T20 World Cup for sure. He has a serious back condition. It’s a stress fracture and he could be out for a period of six months,” a senior BCCI official said.

A stress fracture is a tiny crack in the bone, caused by overuse and is common in sports. When stress reaction (bone bruise) goes undetected for a considerable time, it develops into a stress fracture.

Almost 50% of the sports injuries are caused by stress fractures. Back stress fractures do not require a surgery but a lot of time to heal, and resting is the best way to treat them.

It is understood that either Deepak Chahar or Mohammed Shami could replace Bumrah in the main squad. Both were named as stand-by players for the global marquee event.

Bumrah, who played the second and third T20Is against Australia, had travelled with the team to Thiruvananthapuram for the series-opener against South Africa but left for Bengaluru to be at the National Cricket Academy for rehabilitation.

The 28-year-old fast bowler is the second senior star player to be ruled out after Ravindra Jadeja, who is recovering from a knee surgery.

The Indian team is already looking unsettled at the moment and Bumrah’s injury has compounded the woes of skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid.

“Losing Bumrah and Jadeja will be huge for India. We didn’t expect that things will pan out as they have. He was rested for the Asia Cup precisely to manage his workload management. Now it remains a question if he was even fit enough to play the Australia series,” the BCCI official said.