Rohit Sharma: “Saving Bumrah’s career more important than risking him at the T20 World Cup.”

India captain Rohit Sharma stated on Saturday that his injured pace star Jasprit Bumrah’s career is more important than his participation in the forthcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

Bumrah was pulled out of the event owing to a back issue, with rumours rife that he would need six weeks to heal after missing Asia Cup 2022 due to a lower-back issue.

At the pre-tournament news conference in Melbourne, Rohit confirmed that Team India will be without paceman Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 World Cup in 2022. After speedster Bumrah was ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a back ailment, India drafted experienced bowler Shami into the team.

“We spoke with a number of professionals regarding  Jasprit Bumrah’s injuries, but we did not receive a satisfactory response. This World Cup is significant, but his career is more significant. He is just 27-28 years old, and he has a lot of cricket ahead of him.  As a result, we cannot accept such a risk. All of the experts we spoke with had the same viewpoint. He has a lot of cricket ahead of him, and he will play a lot more to help India win games. Without a question, he will be missed,” Rohit told reporters on Saturday.

“When I was chosen for the World Cup, I had no expectations of myself. I really wanted to enjoy the event and play in it because it was my first World Cup. I had no idea what it was like to be a part of a World Cup or how enormous it was going to be until we really won it,” Rohit reflected.

“It’s been a long process, and the game has changed dramatically. You can practically see how it is played now vs how it was in 2007. Back then, 140 or 150 was a big score, and now guys strive to achieve that total in 14 or 15 overs,” he added.

“Teams are taking more risks today without thinking about the outcome, which I believe is a terrific approach to play this format. It is something that our team is likewise attempting, ” he concluded.

After a week-long camp in Perth that included two practise matches against Western Australia XI, India will now head to Brisbane. They will play two warm-up matches in Brisbane, facing reigning champions Australia on October 17 and runners-up New Zealand on October 19. On October 23, India will kick off their T20 World Cup campaign versus closest rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.