'His absence will hurt India badly' - Sunil Gavaskar opens up on Jasprit Bumrah's absence for 20-20 World Cup 2022

India’s star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the 20-20 World Cup 2022 due to injury and the Indian cricket board confirmed the news through a statement on October 3, Monday. The Men in Blue are all set to board the flight to Australia in the absence of the pace spearhead. 

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Although there were reports claiming that the 28-year-old cannot be ruled out of the squad, the board confirmed that he has been ruled out on their social media accounts. Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar opened up on the nightmare and said that the bowler cannot be replaced. 

Writing in his column on Mid-Day, the legendary cricketer highlighted that no one can fill the void at present. The 73-year-old brought in Ravindra Jadeja’s injury into the topic and said that the Men in Blue will miss their services as the duo are considered to be a godsend for India. 

“Jasprit Bumrah's absence from the Indian team for the World Cup will hurt India considerably. There's no other player in the Indian team, with due respect to every other player, whose absence means so much than Bumrah. We saw in the two games that he played how effective he was and how his presence in the team galvanised the other bowlers. Whether he made the comeback too soon, is now something in the nature of conjecture, but the fact remains that his absence is a huge blow for India’s prospects in the 20-20 World Cup,” Gavaskar said. 

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Deepak and Arshdeep can fill in a fair bit of the hole left by Bumrah's absence: Sunil Gavaskar

Further, Gavaskar backed Deepak Chahar and said that "he can fill in a fair bit of hole left by Bumrah’s absence". The former cricketer also highlighted the importance of having Axar Patel in the squad and lauded the allrounder for his nonpareil performances. 

“The way Deepak Chahar and young Arshdeep Singh exploited the conditions in Thiruvananthapuram does give hope that, with a bit of luck, they can fill in a fair bit of the hole left by Bumrah's absence,” said the former legend.

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"Ravindra Jadeja's absence is being made up to a great extent by Axar Patel and the way he is bowling does give the belief that he can limit the runs as well as take wickets. Over the years, he has added variety by the deft use of the crease and also the delivery speeds and angles. All the experience gathered in the IPL has been put to great use by the left-handed all-rounder. He will once again be the player to watch out for,” Gavaskar added further.