'One man's loss is another man's opportunity'- Dale Steyn, Sanjay Bangar on Jasprit Bumrah's replacement in T20 World Cup squad

A back injury has ruled India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah out of the T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue will begin their campaign on October 23 against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Meanwhile, former all-rounder Sanjay Bangar and veteran pacer Dale Steyn have opined on who can replace the premier speedster for the marquee tournament.

The candidates include the likes of senior pacer Mohammed Shami, bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar, emerging left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, and, Test specialist Mohammed Siraj. It now needs to be seen who will be considered as Bumrah's final replacement.

It's a tough one: Dale Steyn

“There were really small signs of concern, because when Jasprit Bumrah did not play the first match, then he played the second game, and then suddenly, he was rested. You suddenly start to think whether this is serious, because he had been out on rest and rehab for a long time and he was somebody who was given a task of strengthening," said Sanjay Bangar while speaking on Star Sports show ‘Cricket Live’.

"It comes as a huge blow because an Indian attack without Jasprit Bumrah means that a lot of teams will start thinking differently as to how they would approach their batting against the Indian bowling attack. So, a huge blow for India, but again, in sport, one man's loss is another man's opportunity. Hopefully, maybe a Deepak Chahar or Shami or Arshdeep can be there and leave a mark on the World Cup Down Under”, he added.

Dale Steyn opined: “It's a tough one. You can hope that the World Cup brings an opportunity for somebody to kind of be better than they actually are sometimes. They perform way better than they normally would. So, whoever takes his place, I hope that would be the case for them. Whoever gets selected, You probably want them to raise their game by a small percentage because of the hole that they are filling. Somebody like Bumrah, it's so difficult to fill his place. He is such a world class player. India will miss him tremendously in this World Cup."

Meanwhile, Bumrah's replacement was officially scheduled to be named on Sunday, October 9 with Shami being the potential candidate. However, no clarification has been made as such and the Indian team management as well as the selectors continue to play the waiting game.

As far as India's World Cup campaign preparations are concerned they got the better of Western Australia XI by 13 runs in an exhibition match at the WACA in Perth on Monday, October 10. Ahead of their Super 12 opener, the Indian team will be playing two warm-up fixtures against Australia and New Zealand on the 17th and 19th.