Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of IPL, no comeback in next six months
New Delhi, Feb 28: Struggling to shake off his injury woes, Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the IPL for failing to fully recover from his back injury and is unlikely to make a comeback in the next six months, a BCCI source told PTI on Tuesday.
It's yet to be ascertained if the seasoned pacer, who also missed the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, would require a back surgery.
"Bumrah has been ruled out of the IPL as he will take another six months to come back. Even then, he might or might not make a comeback. The 50-over World Cup is the target, but that is also not guaranteed," the BCCI source said.
The development means that Bumrah is now also set to miss the World Test Championship final (if India qualify), which starts on June 7 at The Oval.
Bumrah was initially named in India's T20 World Cup squad.
The IPL is starting on March 31, and Bumrah has been the lead pacer for Mumbai Indians for many seasons now.
The ODI World Cup is scheduled in October-November in India.
The 29-year-old Bumrah has played only five Tests, five ODIs and as many T20Is in 2022, apart from IPL games for Mumbai Indians.
Bumrah, who has a slinging action, puts a lot of pressure on his back during loading. Former West Indies pace bowling great Michael Holding had assessed that Bumrah was always a candidate for back injuries.
Last year, he was ruled out of the Asia Cup due to the back injury. He was rushed back into the squad for the T20I series against Australia at home before the T20 World Cup, and he has not played cricket since then.
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World No. 1 Chakravarthy achieves career-best rating in ICC T20I bowler rankings
Dubai (PTI): India spinner Varun Chakravarthy on Wednesday consolidated his position at the top of the ICC Men's T20I Bowler Rankings, reaching a career-best rating following a stellar show in the ongoing T20 series against South Africa.
The 34-year-old Chakravarthy earned a new best rating of 818 points on the back of his third consecutive two-wicket haul in five-game home series.
The right-armer has six wickets across the first three matches of the series, with his spell of 2/11 from four economical overs in the most recent contest in Dharamsala proving pivotal in India's clinical seven-wicket triumph.
Chakravarthy (818 rating points) now holds a 119-point advantage over his closest rival in New Zealand seamer Jacob Duffy (699) in second-place, while also moveing inside the top 10 for the best rating of all-time for T20I bowlers.
Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh also improved four places to 16th overall on the rankings for T20I bowlers on the back of his Player of the Match heroics against the Proteas in the third game.
For South Africa, Marco Jansen (up 14 spots to 25th), Lungi Ngidi (up 11 rungs to 44th) and Ottneil Baartman also improved, reaching 68th from outside the top 100.
Among T20I batters, India now boast two players inside the top five on the rankings, with Tilak Varma gaining two spots to move to fourth overall after a trio of decent innings against South Africa.
Teammate Abhishek Sharma maintains a decent buffer at the top, while South Africa duo Aiden Markram (up eight places to 29th) and Quinton de Kock (up 14 spots to 43rd) made good ground following some decent recent efforts.
Pakistan's Saim Ayub has a narrow lead at the top of the rankings for T20I all-rounders despite not playing any international matches across the last week, with India's Shivam Dube the big mover on this list as he improves two places to 16th.
