3 major tournaments or series Jasprit Bumrah has missed due to injury
Jasprit Bumrah is currently one of the best bowlers in world cricket. The Ahmedabad-born pacer has proved himself across all formats and conditions. Team India have a great winning record in Tests and white ball cricket since the right-arm fast bowler's international debut in early 2016.
Fitness is paramount for a fast bowler. It is important to manage the injuries and workload for such an important bowler like Bumrah. The Indian team have managed him fairly well over the years.
However, the 28-year-old has still missed out on some high-profile tournaments and major series owing to his recurring injury concerns. We take a look at three such instances in this article.
#1 T20 World Cup 2022
Bumrah was on course to lead the Indian bowling attack at the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia next month. However, due to a back stress fracture, he has been ruled out of the major tournament.
His absence has created a huge dilemma for the Indian management. He was expected to solve the death overs issue for the team, given his impeccable ability to nail yorkers and bowl difficult lines for the batters in the final overs.
The BCCI has named Mohammed Siraj as a replacement for the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. However, it is yet to be seen who will replace Bumrah at the T20 World Cup 2022.
#2 Asia Cup 2022
The Indian pacer was ruled out before the start of the tournament. He suffered a back injury, as a result of which he had to do rehabilitation work at the NCA in Bangalore.
In the absence of Bumrah and Harshal Patel, the defending champions went in with a pace bowling lineup of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Avesh Khan. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was used as the fourth pace bowling option by the team.
Team India failed to go beyond the Super 4 stage, losing to Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The common theme in both the matches was that they were unable to defend the score and leaked runs in the final overs.
#3 IND v SA 2019 (Tests)
This was India's first home series in the 2019-21 World Test Championship cycle. India had just whitewashed West Indies away in a two-match series where Bumrah was the star performer with the ball.
He sustained a minor stress fracture in his lower back, which ruled him out of the three-match Test series against the Proteas.
His absence did not hurt India much, given they were playing in familiar conditions. Experienced Indian pacers like Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav were exceptional in the series.