India does not appear to be a title team without elite pacer Jasprit Bumrah. That is the impact of a good bowler like Bumrah. While India waits for his replacement, former India coach Ravi Shastri has dubbed Bumrah's absence "unfortunate," but has also stated that such an occurrence can happen to anyone. Shastri also believes that this predicament presents an opportunity to find a new champion.
“Bumrah’s injury is unfortunate. There is so much cricket being played, people can get injured easily. But it’s an opportunity for somebody else (to excel) as there is nothing you can do with injury. With Bumrah and Jadeja not in the side –it hampers the side but also provides an opportunity to unearth a new champion,” said Shastri on the sidelines launching Cricket Beyond and Omega Cricket Ground at the Lalaji Memorial Omega School here on Thursday.
The 60-year-old feels India have enough depth to go deep into the tournament. “We’ve a good team. I believe that if you make it to the semifinals, then it could be anyone’s tournament. So, the endeavour will be to start well, get to the semifinals and then you have got enough strengths there to probably win the World Cup,” Shastri pointed out.
At the present, the frontrunners to replace Bumrah are Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, and Deepak Chahar. It remains to be seen who will win. The team has already departed for Australia. Before their first match against Pakistan on October 23, the team will play four warm-up games.