India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is likely to not participate in the team's opening clash of the T20 World Cup against USA on February 7. According to a report by Indian Express, Bumrah will be kept out of the team's playing XI due to viral fever and will be given rest so that his condition gets better as soon as possible. He will not be rushed into the XI for the side's opening encounter that will take place at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.
The report further said that that with Bumrah out, Mohammed Siraj is likely to make his return to the shortest format after well-over an year. The latter had been added to India's squad for the T20 World Cup on Friday as a replacement for Harshit Rana, who got ruled out from the tournament due to a knee injury.
“Following consultations with a specialist and subsequent scans, the BCCI medical team deemed him unfit to participate in the tournament. The team management wishes him a speedy recovery. Mohd. Siraj will join the team as Harshit’s replacement in the squad,” BCCI had stated in its press release.
Siraj's long absence from T20Is
Siraj had featured for India in the 2024 T20 World Cup and does have a decent bit of experience when it comes to the format. The pacer has played 16 matches so far, clinching a total of 14 wickets. His last T20I appearance came in a match against Sri Lanka in July, 2024. The 31-year-old got completely sidelined from the format under Gautam Gambhir and has now become a prolific bowler in Test cricket.
India's injury problems
Meanwhile, India will only have a total of 13 fit players in the squad for their opening match as Washington Sundar hasn't regained full fitness yet either and is expected to miss the first phase of the tournament. He is yet to join the team and is awaited for clearance from BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE).
India's squad for T20 World Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh