MUMBAI: This should provide a glimmer of hope for Team India fans. Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah is not suffering from a stress fracture of the back, as was being initially feared and reported by the media, but a "stress reaction," TOI has learnt through reliable sources in the BCCI.
This practically means that his injury isn't as bad as it seemed initially, and the recovery period will be much, much shorter, though it remains to be seen if India take a risk by taking the injured fast bowler to the T20 World Cup in Australia while hoping that he recovers for the knockout round at least.
"Scans by the BCCI medical team at the National Cricket Academy (in Bangalore) have revealed that it's not a stress fracture, but 'stress reaction', which is one step less than stress fracture. It takes 4-6 months to recover from a stress fracture, but normally only about 4-6 weeks to recover from a stress reaction," the source said.
It's highly unlikely that Bumrah would depart with the Indian team for the T20 World Cup on October 5 from Mumbai to Perth, where the team will prepare for the tournament. In any case, India can wait till October15 before taking a final call on whether to include an injured Bumrah in their squad or not.
"If a squad member is injured between 16th September (initial submissions) and start of the support period (October 15), they can be replaced without going through the Event Technical Committee," revealed a source in the know of things to TOI.
India to take 'normal' flight to Australia
In a bid to acclimatize itself with the local conditions, Team India will depart from Mumbai to Perth in Australia on the night of October 5, much ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup. Interestingly, for the first time since Covid struck perhaps, Rohit Sharma & Co will travel in a 'normal' commercial flight, and not a chartered aircraft, as the norm for the last three years in Covid.
"There's no bio-bubble. So no need to travel in a chartered flight now," said a source.
Interestingly, with the threat of Covid-19 having gone down, the tournament will not be played in a bio-bubble. "During the entire World Cup, there will be no Covid-19 tests done, unless someone complains of symptoms," a source said. Last year's T20 World Cup in UAE was played in a strict bio-bubble, with all the participants undergoing regular Covid tests.
