The BCCI put a stamp of approval over the development on Monday evening, putting an end to speculations that the seamer may board the flight to Australia and be ready to play in the latter stages of the marquee ICC event.
The decision to sideline Bumrah from the T20 World Cup entirely was taken “following a detailed assessment and in consultation with the specialists”, who ascertained that it would be too big a risk to take the bowler to Australia. The Indian spearhead will now undergo an extended rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy.
The board had initially ruled out the player only from the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. The world’s best fast-bowler missed the opening game in Thiruvananthapuram on September 28, the day he flew to Bangalore for fresh scans at the NCA on his recurring back issue.
The possibility of him missing the T20 World Cup was first brought to light by a PTI report, which quoted a BCCI official on conditions of anonymity saying the player will not travel to Australia since he is down with a lower-back stress fracture again.
When Bumrah first had a stress fracture to his back in October 2019, he missed the subsequent three months at the international stage and took a while to hit his usual top-notch ways with the ball even upon comeback.
Those fears, however, were briefly dispelled by a contrasting report published in the Times of India, where it was claimed that Bumrah’s fresh set of scans at the NCA revealed a “stress reaction”, not a fracture, and the bowler should not take more than 3-4 weeks in recovery from the issue. That ignited the possibility of Bumrah being ready to play the back half of the T20 World Cup by completing his rehab in Australia, practising with the rest of the Rohit Sharma-led side.
“Scans by the BCCI medical team at the National Cricket Academy (in Bangalore) have revealed that it’s not a stress fracture, but ‘stress reaction’, which is one step less than stress fracture,”
a source privy to the developments was quoted as saying by TOI.
Given the untimely nature of his back injury, this was the best-case scenario that Rohit, coach Rahul Dravid and even BCCI president Sourav Ganguly were hoping to come to fruition. Dravid had said after the Kerala T20I that he would wait for an official update on Bumrah’s injury before ruling out the possibility of him playing in the World Cup. Till then, he said, he would remain hopeful. As did Ganguly, who was first to clarify that a final decision on Bumrah’s availability will be taken only after consulting the specialists.
As it panned out, the board’s medical staff and independent back specialists on Monday told the BCCI and the selectors not to risk taking Bumrah to Australia. The last thing the decision-makers would’ve wanted is for his back issue to aggravate and see him out of action for a longer period than ideal. The PTI report had said Bumrah could be sidelined for six months if it’s a “fracture”. The BCCI didn’t confirm whether it is a back fracture or a stress reaction.
The back injury recurred ahead of the Asia Cup 2022, which Bumrah missed and underwent a quick rehab at the NCA. The physios there approved the bowler’s comeback for the T20Is versus the Aussies. Bumrah played the last two T20Is of that series, looking undercooked through his expensive spells of 1/23 and 0/50.
