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India’s skipper, Rohit Sharma, has stressed on not jeopardizing Jasprit Bumrah’s injury management, and has thrown his weight behind Mohammad Shami to deliver the goods in Australia

“We can't take such a risk. All the specialists we spoke to were of the same opinion.”

It’s never nice to know that an army would be going to war without their chief weapon, their Brahmastra. Even more so when that weapon, in the past few years, has carried the entire attack on his shoulders. But the plug had to be pulled, and the commander has made his peace with the fact that the weapon needs to be preserved for future battles, for bigger battles.

Jasprit Bumrah’s troublesome back injury has had the final laugh. It has ruled him out of the T20 World Cup in Australia, and is likely to keep him out of action for another six weeks. It been a known issue, since that tour to the West Indies in 2019. The plug had to be pulled. It really was only a matter of time. But India, and skipper Rohit Sharma, tried their absolute best, stretching the margins, pushing the limits, waiting till the absolute last second. Alas, their concern about the future, India’s future, Bumrah’s future, forced this call.

“We spoke to a lot of the specialists about his injuries, but we did not get a decent response," Rohit said. "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."

Mohammad Shami, who last played a T20I in the 2021 T20 World Cup, is coming off a prolonged bout of Covid-19. He’s had to pull out of matches, made to go through a series of cardiovascular fitness tests, and is finally set to board the plane to Australia. The tough part still remains. He now will have only a couple of days to set his biological clock to ACT, wave off the jet lag, hit his straps in the warm-up games, and hopefully impress.

Rohit, though, isn’t concerned. He trusts his senior pro’s experience to hold him in good stead. And tell you what, there’s no better feeling in the world than your captain placing his trust on you, absolutely wholeheartedly.

"Shami was down with Covid-19 two-three weeks back, he was at home, in his farm," Rohit said. "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," he said.

"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. 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."

Don’t be surprised if Shami steals the show at the World Cup. Don’t be surprised if Bumrah comes back with a vengeance. After all, it’s these stories that make cricket special.