Bumrah’s Champions Trophy absence leaves Shami to step up

Ahmedabad: They waited as far as possible to see if they could bring a fit-again Jasprit Bumrah back on the park. But once medical experts sounded a note of caution, it was decided that it wasn’t worth risking the career of India’s biggest bowling weapon in the Champions Trophy. With the summer Test tour of England to follow IPL, you wouldn’t want to jeopardise India’s winnability. A Tuesday night conference call between India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Bumrah wouldn’t take the flight to Dubai. Jasprit Bumrah was injured during last Test in Australia. (AFP)

The miss was as big as a football World Cup losing Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Steve Harmison. A 30-35% setback to India’s title hopes, in Ravi Shastri’s assessment. Agarkar and his selection committee got into action once the decision was made on Bumrah, making further tweaks to India’s provisional squad. Harshit Rana was brought in as replacement for his first ICC tournament. The 23-year-old’s hard lengths were trusted over Mohammed Siraj’s “lack of effectiveness with the old ball”, as Rohit put it.

The spin attack was further strengthened with Varun Chakravarthy joining Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. India have stacked the squad with five spin options while Pakistan, who will face them in Dubai on February 23, have only two spinners. To accommodate the extra spinner, young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was left out.

Until last week, Jaiswal was in the scheme of things. He even opened in the first ODI against England in Nagpur last week as the team management tried to test the effectiveness of a left-right combination. Among other changes to make up for the Bumrah-sized hole, he has been demoted to a non-travelling reserve. One of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, or even Washington, in that order, is likely to be called upon to address any top order SOS call.

When fit and roaring, Bumrah is a feared opponent. That’s where India will miss him the most. His bowling repertoire is long, but the fast bowler’s ability to problem solve in a crisis is what makes him irreplaceable. When it was now or never in last year’s T20 World Cup final with South Africa within touching distance of victory, Bumrah was summoned. He checked big-hitters Heinrich Klassen and David Miller in their stride, got rid of Marco Jansen and set up India’s win for the ages.

If he is miserly in T20 cricket, he is thriftier in 50-over cricket. Doubly more effective because ODI cricket allows him to use his vast range of tricks across phases. In ODI World Cups, Bumrah’s bowling economy is 4.23, and average 19.6. In all ODI cricket, he gives away only 4.59 runs an over and averages 23.55 across 89 matches.

India would hope the pitches in Dubai assist their slow bowlers. Be it as it may, the Dubai International Stadium will assist swing bowling under the lights. India’s pace battery is light on experience, and is perhaps their weakest link.

The Ahmedabad game against England on Wednesday was only Arshdeep Singh’s ninth ODI. He knows all about using the new ball and handling death overs pressure from his T20 experience, but to do it over a wider stretch will pose a stiffer challenge. Rana enjoys the backing of Gambhir and even Rohit seems to have taken a liking to his feistiness. In Bumrah’s misfortune, the Delhi pacer would want to step up and repay the trust.

For Mohammed Shami though, ICC events are his territory. In the 2019 ODI World Cup, he was introduced halfway through the tournament and picked up a truckload of wickets. He didn’t make the first playing eleven in the 2023 ODI World Cup either but finished as the top wicket-taker. He has always proven a point in style. Having missed more than a year of cricket due to injury, and the team in some distress over the loss of their premier pacer, it is for Shami to scale up, once more.

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