Bumrah rested for South Africa Tests due to Injury

Indian's premium pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, will be rested for the test series against South Africa, which starts on October 2nd in Vizag. The pacer had to be dropped after a 'routine Radiological screening' showed signs of a stress fracture in his lower back. 

A BCCI said that this could result in Bumrah being ruled out of India's next assignment which is against Bangladesh. They will play two Tests, which are part of the the World Test Championship and three T20I.

A BCCI official commented that it was fortunate that the detection happened at the preliminary stage. He said, "Since it is in the preliminary stage, it won't take more than 2 months to heal. Otherwise, a stress fracture takes pretty long to heal."

India have been wary of Bumrah's workload. This is the second time he is missing Tests due to injury. He picked up a thumb injury while playing against Ireland last year, which caused him to miss the first half of the tour against England.

The loss of Bumrah is a big blow for India. It will also help the administrators to reassess the workload of the pacers in the squad. Since he made his debut, the speedster has been a vital part of India's plan. 

With a multitude of variations and toe-crushing yorkers, he imploded as one of the most potent and lethal bowlers in the game. The speedster already has 62 wickets under his belt in 12 Test matches at an average of 19.24, picking up fifers in all his four tours of South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies.

The All-India senior selectors committee has named Umesh Yadav as Jasprit's replacement. The BCCI, in a tweet, said, "JUST IN: Umesh Yadav replaces Jasprit Bumrah in India's Test squad #TeamIndia fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has sustained a minor stress fracture in his lower back and has been ruled out of the upcoming Paytm Freedom Series for Gandhi-Mandela Trophy against South Africa."

Umesh, has played only 5 Tests since early 2018. However, he picked his career best of 10-133 against West Indies in Hyderabad. He was also part of the India A tour in West-Indies, but failed to make much of an impact there. 

India's revised squad:

Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Shubman Gill.

Cover Image credits: BCCI Twitter