'Jasprit Bumrah's injury is an opportunity for someone else to stand up': Rahul Dravid

South Africa avoided a whitewash in the T20I series against India by dishing out a clinical performance in the final T20I. The visitors won the game comprehensively by 49 runs, with India's bowling woes coming to the fore yet again. Indian head coach Rahul Dravid lamented the loss of bowling ace Jasprit Bumrah but hopes someone else can put their hands up in his absence.

For a second game running, the Indian bowlers came under the pump as a shortish ground in Indore sent an open invitation to the South Africa batters, who obliged duly. India's bowling looks short of ideas in the absence of their spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has been officially ruled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.

Rahul Dravid, former Indian skipper, and current head coach acknowledged that Bumrah's injury was a big blow for the Men in Blue. He stated that Mohammed Shami is the obvious choice to replace the injured pacer, and his availability for the recently concluded series would've been ideal for the team's preparation for the T20 World Cup.

"Bumrah's absence is a big loss, he's been a great player but it happens, it's an opportunity for someone else to stand up. We'll miss him, his personality around the group. Shami is obviously someone who's in the standbys. Unfortunately for us, he couldn't play in this series. It would've been ideal from that perspective, but he's in the National Cricket Academy at the moment," Dravid said in the post-match conference on Tuesday.

Rahul Dravid will take a call on Shami after assessing his recovery

Mohammed Siraj, who was named Bumrah's replacement for the South Africa series, did a decent job at the death, but still went for 44 in his four overs. Siraj's underwhelming outing has once again pointed in the direction of Shami, and Dravid said that they will decide on Shami's inclusion in the ICC mega event in the forthcoming days after assessing his recovery.

"We've to get reports as to how he's recovering, and what's his status after 14-15 days of covid, and we'll take a call. Once I get a report on how he's feeling, then obviously we (I and the selectors) can really take a call on how to move forward on it," Dravid added.