What choices does Staff India have if each Jasprit Bumrah & Mohammed Shami miss ICC Champions Trophy?

Jasprit Bumrah‘s recent injury concerns will surely raise a lot of questions about the future of the India Cricket Team. The next big tournament for Team India is the ICC Champions Trophy. So now the question is what will happen if India is without two of their ace speedsters in the tournament. What if Bumrah doesn’t continue to struggle while Mohammed Shami is still unfit? What options do the Men in Blue have for the mega tournament?

Mohammed Shami is still unfit and isn’t playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal. The ace pacer was on his way to recovery but then he suffered swelling on his left knee after playing quite a dew Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) matches. And now it is a race against time if he becomes fit for the ICC event or not.

Who can step up in the absence of two veterans?

Now India is left behind with just a handful of pacers who can take the spot. In the absence of Bumrah and Shami, Mohammed Siraj automatically becomes the senior pacer in the team. And Siraj’s form over the last year has been terrible. He has performed in patches as inconsistency is a major concern for the Hyderbadi bowler.

Accompanying Siraj will be Arshdeep Singh. While the left-handed pacer is a regular in T20Is, he has yet to confidently secure his spot in the ODI format of the game. But then again, the Airaj-Arshdeep duo is not enough. Hardik Pandya can be the third pacer in the team. But the team would desperately want another pacer in their mixes.

A couple of young players are in the thereabouts. Players like Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana can be tried out. But it would be a big call given these youngsters are yet to make their ODI debuts. So naturally playing a major ICC event would be a huge event for these players.

The Selectors can also call up Khaleel Ahmed who has been sidelined on the bench for quite some time. While it can be expected that both Bumrah and Shami would be fit for the Mini World Cup, India would surely be in dire straits if the veteran duo miss out.