In a major blow to India’s campaign in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the tournament owing to a back injury. A replacement for the player is yet to be announced.

Following the second and third T20Is against Australia, Bumrah complained of pain in the back after which the BCCI sent out an official statement where they mentioned that the pacer has been injured and thus ruled him out of the South Africa T20Is. While Mohammad Shami, Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Siraj are believed to be the frontrunners to replace Bumrah, India head coach Rahul Dravid said, “In terms of who the replacement for Bumrah would be, we will have a look, we have time till October 15 so Shami is obviously someone who is in the standbys.”

“But obviously, he could not play this series for us, which would have been ideal. But he is at the NCA at the moment, we have to get reports on how he is recovering and what's his status after 14-15 days of COVID is. We will take a call. Once we get his report, we and the selectors can take the call on how we move forward on it. What do we expect from the guy? We just want him to play some good cricket, have fun and enjoy himself and do the best he can. It is all we can ask from people, do the best you can,” he added. India will play their first World Cup match against Pakistan on October 23, 2022 at the MCG.