3 important Indian players who'll likely miss 2023 World Cup due to injury
With the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy complete, Team India's focus now shifts to the ODI World Cup set to be played in October 2023. India recently qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, to be played against Australia in June, for the second straight time.
While winning the Test Championship would ease some pressure off the team, the scrutiny and focus will still be sky high for the World Cup that follows, particularly because it will be played at home.
The last time India played a home World Cup was in 2011, when the team went on to hoist the trophy at the Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai. The current crop will be desperate to replicate the feat achieved by the 2011 squad and break the 10-year drought in ICC events.
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One of the major talking points heading into the previous World Cup in 2019 was finding and establishing the No. 4 spot in the batting lineup. India tried numerous options like Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, and Rishabh Pant but never settled on a stable middle order. It proved costly as the team endured a terrible batting collapse in the semi-finals against New Zealand while chasing a moderate total.
Team India have since then prioritized having a settled middle to late middle order for the upcoming World Cup. However, injuries to key players at different times have meant that the chopping and changing of the batting order has continued.
With the World Cup set to get underway in less than seven months, we look at three key players who could miss the marquee event due to injury.
3 important Indian players who'll likely miss World Cup 2023 due to Injury
# 1 Jasprit Bumrah
India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been out of action since September 2022 with a back injury. He missed the Asia Cup in August last year, but the injury aggravated further, forcing Bumrah to miss the T20 World Cup that followed in September.
Bumrah underwent rehabilitation in November and started bowling again by mid-December. However, the 29-year-old still had lingering issues, with scans revealing the same injury during a fitness drill in Mumbai in early January that subsequently ruled him out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The BCCI medical staff at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) have since been treating Bumrah with great care and recommended that the pacer undergo surgery to help him completely recover to full fitness. The Gujarat-born speedster successfully underwent surgery in Christchurch, New Zealand, and his rehabilitation is likely to start in August.
Bumrah has already been ruled out of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL), which starts on March 31, and the WTC final, which will be played on June 7. While the endeavor is to try and have Bumrah fully fit by the start of the 50-Over World Cup in October, skipper Rohit Sharma emphasized that the pacer should regain full fitness before playing and felt that the team is now used to playing without him.
Speaking after the loss in the second ODI of the ongoing India-Australia series, Rohit Sharma said:
“Bumrah has been absent for more than eight months now, the guys and the team are very much used to it. It is very hard to fill Bumrah’s shoes. We all know that he is a quality bowler but now that is not been available for us. Let’s not just keep thinking about that,”
He further added:
“We have to move ahead and guys have taken the responsibility pretty well (Mohammad ) Siraj, (Mohammed) Shami, Shardul (Thakur), we have got Umran and Jaydev (Unadkat) as well,”
Jasprit Bumrah was among the leading wicket-takers in the 2019 World Cup, with 18 wickets in nine matches at an impressive average of 18 and a terrific economy of just 4.40. Beyond the numbers, Bumrah's experience and expertise - particularly during the death overs - will be sorely missed if he is ruled out of the World Cup.
# 2 Rishabh Pant
India's star wicketkeeper-batsman, Rishabh Pant, is still recovering from a torn ligament injury sustained due to a terrible car crash in December last year. The 25-year-old has made steady progress, but the nature of his injury will require extensive time off for a complete recovery.
The Roorkee-born cricketer has already been ruled out of the 2023 edition of the IPL and the WTC final. Considering the nature of his injury, it wouldn't be a surprise if Rishabh is ruled out of the World Cup as well.
Although Pant hasn't set the world on fire in limited-overs cricket, his experience playing in numerous critical matches, including the 2019 World Cup, could help Team India during high-pressure situations. It is also worth noting that Pant brings a left-handed option to a side primarily filled with right-handers.
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Pant's wicketkeeping has also improved substantially over the last couple of years. With India likely to go in with the makeshift keeper option in KL Rahul, the absence of a regular wicketkeeper like Pant on potentially spin-friendly pitches in India could be detrimental.
# 3 Shreyas Iyer
Mumbai-born Shreyas Iyer is the latest casualty on the injury list for Team India, as his lingering back issues will require the batter to undergo surgery. Iyer will likely be out of action for the next four to five months to recover completely. The 28-year-old right-hander suffered back issues earlier in the year, forcing him to miss the white ball series against the Black Caps and the first Test against Australia.
Iyer returned in the second Test against the Aussies but aggravated the injury in the final Test at Ahmedabad. The middle-order batter was subsequently ruled out of the ongoing three-match ODI series against Australia. According to the latest reports, Iyer will undergo surgery to regain full fitness, which might force him out of action for close to five months.
With the World cup scheduled to be played in around seven months, it will be a battle for Shreyas to regain full fitness and have the ideal preparation for the mega event. Iyer's absence will be a severe blow to Team India's chances at the World Cup, as the right-hander has been one of India's most in-form batsmen in the middle order in recent years.
He was impressive in 2022, averaging 56 at a strike rate of 91, producing stellar performances to bail the side out on numerous occasions. With the No. 4 position often being one of the major talking points around India's 50-over side, Iyer's absence could create instability and uncertainty heading into the World Cup.