Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah voiced his concern over Vijay Shankar’s injury, but said that the all-rounder is doing fine now. Shankar, 28, received a blow on his toe following Bumrah’s yorker during India’s rain-hit nets session on Wednesday and was spotted in visible pain. After a brief assessment, a source confirmed although it was a scare, there’s nothing serious about it.
Speaking about the incident, Bumrah in his recent press conference said that it was an unfortunate event, but Shankar is doing fine now. “It was unfortunate that Vijay got injured on my ball, but he is fine.”
The 28-year-old’s injury comes a day after India confirmed that opener Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the World Cup owing to a fractured thumb. Dhawan suffered a hairline fracture to his left thumb during India’ 36-run victory over Australia on June 9 and although he was expected to be out for a shorter period, the intensity of his injury has forced the team to act otherwise.
“It is unfortunate he (Dhawan) is out of the World Cup. He played really good innings against Australia. We are a good side and we are not worried about it. It was an unfortunate incident which happened, but we have to move forward,” Bumrah said.
Apart from Shankar and Dhawan, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is also struggling with a hamstring injury, which he picked during India’s convincing win over Pakistan on June 16. Both Shankar and Bhuvneshwar took part light training drill under the physio Patrick Farhart, but it is highly unlikely that they will be risked in India’s upcoming fixture against Afghanistan on June 22.
In turn, Mohammed Shami is expected to take the reins after bowling a long spell in the nets on Wednesday. And when quipped over how the pacers have been approaching the new ball, Bumrah said, “The best preparation for me is to bowl and that is what I am doing. Personally, for me, it does not mean any difference as three of us are focusing on the game.”
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan
