Melbourne [Australia]: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said on Saturday that pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has a lot of cricket to play ahead and his career is more important than the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
His remarks came after the All-India Senior Selection Committee named Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement in India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 squad on Friday.
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Bumrah will be out of action for at least six weeks due to a back injury. It is the latest injury that the Indian pace leader is facing in recent times.
"We spoke to a lot of specialists about his injuries, but we did not get a decent response. This World Cup is important, but his career is more important. He is only 27-28, there is a lot of cricket in front of him," said Rohit as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
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"So, we cannot take such a risk. All the specialists we spoke to were of the same opinion. There is a lot of cricket ahead of him, he will play a lot more and help India win matches.
There is no doubt that he will be missed," he added.
Meanwhile, Shami has not played T20I cricket since last year's edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in November 2021. After recovering from COVID-19, he has been training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
This bout of the virus had kept him out of white-ball series against Australia and South Africa at home. He last featured in a competitive cricket match during India's tour of England back in July.
Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur have been named backups and will travel to Australia shortly. At the ICC competition, India is in Group 2 with Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and two qualifiers.
Following their October 23 encounter against Pakistan at the MCG, they will play on October 27, against a qualifier in Sydney, on October 30, against South Africa in Perth, on November 2, against Bangladesh in Adelaide, and on November 6. (vs qualifier in Melbourne).
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami. (ANI)
