Melbourne, Oct 15 (IANS): India captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday said that the career of his injured pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah holds more importance than making him play at the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
Bumrah was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury, with speculation rife that it would take him six weeks to recover from the latest setback after sitting out of Asia Cup 2022 due to a lower-back injury.
"We spoke to a lot of the 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.
"So, we can't 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," said Rohit during the captains' day event in Melbourne.
On Friday, senior pacer Mohammed Shami was named as replacement for Bumrah in India's squad for the showpiece event. Shami last played competitive cricket on the tour of England in July and hasn't played T20Is after last year's T20 World Cup in the UAE. He was included in India's T20I series against Australia and South Africa but was ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19.
"Shami was down with Covid-19 two-three weeks back, he was at home, in his farm. He was then called over to the National Cricket Academy, he went there and worked quite hard over the last 10 days. His recovery after Covid was very good. He had three to four bowling sessions. All in all, everything is good as far as Shami is concerned," added Rohit.
India will now move towards Brisbane after a week-long camp in Perth, including playing two practice matches against Western Australia XI. At Brisbane, they will play two warm-up matches against defending champions Australia on October 17 and last year's runners-up New Zealand on October 19. India will open their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
"We have our practice session in Brisbane tomorrow. He (Shami) will practice with the team. Whatever we have heard about Shami so far, is very positive. Injuries are part and parcel of the sport, there is nothing much that can be done about it. When you play so many games, injuries are bound to happen," stated Rohit.
Rohit further explained how building the bench strength in the run-up to upcoming T20 World Cup was a main point of focus for the Indian team. "Our focus in this last year was that we should build our bench strength. When it comes to injuries, we have done a lot with regard to player management in the last one year, but these things happen, and there is not much you can do about it.
"Our focus in the last year was to get the players in the queue ready, and give them opportunities. We know injuries can happen anytime, so our constant focus was to give the players in the waiting enough games and back them. The bowlers that have come to the World Cup, they have played a lot of matches. And this was our focus. I think we have received success."