NEW DELHI: India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's back injury ruling him out of the T20 World Cup starting in Australia this month means that the side has to find someone who can fill in the void left by his absence.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that opposition sides will reconsider their batting strategy because of the bowling attack not having Bumrah anymore. He added that in Bumrah's absence, he expects young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh or either of Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar (if drafted in as an official replacement for Bumrah) to leave their mark in the showpiece event.
"There were really small signs of concern, because when Jasprit Bumrah did not play the first match (against Australia at Mohali), then he played the second game (at Nagpur), and then suddenly he was rested (Bumrah played in Hyderabad but didn't play Thiruvananthapuram match due to back complaint). You suddenly start to think whether this is serious, because he had been out on rest and rehab for a long time, and he was somebody who was given a task of strengthening," said Bangar on 'Cricket Live' show on Star Sports.
Bumrah's absence from India's squad for the T20 World Cup means India will also be deprived of a flexible bowler who could excel in any conditions or phase of the game in T20Is.
"It comes as a huge blow because an Indian attack without Jasprit Bumrah means that a lot of teams will start thinking differently as to how they would approach their batting against the Indian bowling attack."
"So a huge blow for India, but again, in sport, one man's loss is another man's opportunity. Hopefully, maybe a Deepak Chahar or Shami or Arshdeep can be there and leave a mark on the World Cup Down Under," added Bangar.
Former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn acknowledged that India will terribly miss the services of Bumrah, who also had sufficient experience of playing in Australian conditions and expects his replacement to raise their game in the T20 World Cup.
"It's a tough one. You can hope that the World Cup brings an opportunity for somebody to kind of be better than they actually are sometimes, they perform way better than they normally would. So whoever takes his place, I hope that would be the case for them.
"Whoever gets selected, you probably want them to raise their game by a small percentage because of the hole that they are filling. Somebody like Bumrah, it's so difficult to fill his place. He is such a world class player. India will miss him tremendously in this World Cup."
