Jasprit Bumrah likely to be ruled out of T20 World Cup

India's premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup with back stress fracture, news agency PTI has reported quoting BCCI sources.

On Wednesday, Bumrah was forced to miss the first T20I of the series against South Africa after he "complained of back pain during India's practice session."

Bumrah's absence from the T20 World Cup comes as a severe blow to the Indian team, which is already enduring another absence in Ravindra Jadeja.

Bumrah was earlier forced to skip the 2022 Asia Cup with a back injury as well. 

He had made his return to the Indian team in the T20I series against Australia earlier this month, and played in the 2nd and 3rd game of the series.

It is believed that Bumrah's injury is not severe enough to undergo a surgery, but serious enough to keep him out of action for months.

Although nothing is official yet, Bumrah is expected to fly down to the NCA on Thursday and the final decision will be taken after evaluating the reports.

The 28-year-old fast bowler was named among a four-man pace bowling attack for the T20 World Cup in Australia, which featured Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshal Patel.

With Bumrah reportedly being ruled out, India are expected to pick one of Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar to fill his place both of whom have been named in the standbys for the marquee tournament.

Another name that is doing the rounds is that of Mohammed Siraj, who is currently playing County for Warwickshire

Earlier, the Rohit Sharma-led Team India had faced another severe blow this month when all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a knee injury.

In his absence, however, Axar Patel stepped up with consistent performances in India's recent T20I outings against Australia and South Africa