"As soon as Bumrah returns fully fit... he wins 50 percent of the matches" - Mohammad Kaif defends India's missed opportunities 

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif understands the outrage of fans over Team India's failure to win tournaments during the tenure of head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma like the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup in 2022 and the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier in June.

Kaif shed light on how dearly the Men in Blue missed Jasprit Bumrah in all these tournaments. The speedster has been out of competitive cricket for almost an entire year ever since his major back injury.

Here's what Mohammad Kaif was quoted as saying by TOI on the difference that Jasprit Bumrah's availability would make to India's World Cup chances:

"I think it is not easy to play with Bumrah not in the side. He is the biggest match-winner and Rohit Sharma didn't get his services, so think about all that. I believe, as soon as Bumrah returns fully fit... he wins 50 percent of the matches for the Indian team. I think if Bumrah is in the team and a few others like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer also return, we have the players who can win the (World Cup) trophy."

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Mohammad Kaif on India's T20I losses to West Indies

Although India are currently 2-0 down in the T20I series against the West Indies, Mohammad Kaif feels it will be wrong to write off the Men in Blue. He wasn't pleased with the 'negative reaction' after the visitors lost the first two games and stated:

"India has lost just two matches, so we do not need to get overly concerned. I am seeing a lot of negative reactions after the two losses. But I will only say that our team is extremely competitive. I am not going to judge (India) on two back-to-back losses (in the West Indies). The only thing is that key players are missing."

With Bumrah set to play the Ireland T20Is, the Men in Blue will also be hopeful to have Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul fit for the Asia Cup with the squad likely to be announced soon.

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