‘With due respect to every pacer…’: Gavaskar’s bold take on Bumrah replacement

While the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar might be seen as potential candidates, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar reckons the void left by Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to injury will be nearly impossible to fill for India at the T20 World Cup.

The Indian cricket team’s worst nightmare has come true. Jasprit Bumrah, whose chances of participating in the T20 World Cup were dangling by a thread, has officially been ruled out of the tournament due to his injured back, the BCCI announced via an official statement on Monday. Bumrah, India’s premier fast bowler, complained of back pain and was removed from the ongoing three-T20I series against South Africa. After reports of his ouster from India’s T20 World Cup squad first emerged last week, the suspense around his availability grew further when India coach Rahul Dravid and BCCI president Sourav Ganguly refused to rule him out entirely. However, all the speculations ended through a release on Monday evening, dealing India, who are already without star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, a major blow.

The management is still however playing the waiting game on Bumrah’s replacement. The decision on whether it will be one of the two reserve players in Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar to be drafted into the main squad, or will the BCCI call someone from the outside such as Mohammed Siraj, will be taken soon. Siraj was recently named Bumrah’s replacement against South Africa, while Shami – who is yet to play a T20I for India since last year’s World Cup – was seen warming up in the nets.

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But while all three of them might be seen as potential candidates, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar reckons the void left by Bumrah’s absence will be nearly impossible to fill. More so given how woeful India’s death-bowling has been lately. From Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Arshdeep Singh to Harshal Patel, all three have gone from plenty while bowling the last three overs – 19th in particular. It is what cost India the lost the two crucial games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Super 4s and the opening T20I against Australia, where they failed to defend 208. A similar sight came back to haunt India in the 2nd T20I against South Africa, but Rohit Sharma and Co. somehow defended 237. The only India pacer who did not leak runs was Bumrah, as seen in the two Australia T20Is he played in and that is what Gavaskar believes might severely hurt India come the World Cup.

“Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from the Indian team for the World Cup will hurt India considerably. There’s no other player in the Indian team, with due respect to every other player, whose absence means so much than Bumrah,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.

“We saw in the two games that he played how effective he was and how his presence in the team galvanised the other bowlers. Whether he made the comeback too soon, is now something in the nature of conjecture, but the fact remains that his absence is a huge blow for India’s prospects in the T20 World Cup. The way Deepak Chahar and young Arshdeep Singh exploited the conditions in Thiruvananthapuram does give hope that, with a bit of luck, they can fill in a fair bit of the hole left by Bumrah’s absence.”

Gavaskar also weighed in on the prospects of Axar Patel potentially being able to fill Ravindra Jadeja’s shoes. While Axar’s batting and fielding may not be on par with Jadeja’s, the left-arm spinner has off late bowled brilliantly in the Powerplays for India. Even with the bat, Axar has shown his capability, winning India a thriller against West Indies in August. Having honed his skills for years playing in the IPL, it might finally be Axar’s chance to shine for India at the grandest stage of them all, adds Gavaskar.

“Ravindra Jadeja’s absence is being made up to a great extent by Axar Patel and the way he is bowling does give the belief that he can limit the runs as well as take wickets. Over the years, he has added variety by the deft use of the crease and also the delivery speeds and angles. All the experience gathered in the IPL has been put to great use by the left-handed all-rounder. He will once again be the player to watch out for,” said the legendary India batter.