The worst nightmare for Mumbai Indians and their fans is about to come true as Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the IPL 2023, and only the official confirmation is remaining.
It has been learned that Jasprit Bumrah’s back injury is even worse than it was initially thought to be. He last played two T20Is in September and been out of action since. Before those two T20Is against Australia, he’d missed about two months of cricket as well. And now it is certain that he was rushed back, aggravating his injury.
The five-time champions will now have to search for options from the unsold players from the IPL 2023 auction to find a replacement for Bumrah. While no fast bowler in the world, let alone in India, can replace Jasprit Bumrah, for his skilset and temperament, MI will have to find someone experienced in the IPL to fill Bumrah’s shoes.
Here are 3 replacement options for Jasprit Bumrah that Mumbai Indians might pick for IPL 2023:
Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep Sharma is an IPL veteran, having a vast experience of 104 IPL games in which he’s picked up 114 wickets at an average of 26 and maintained a tidy economy of 7.77.
The 29-year-old pacer from Punjab is known for his new ball swing movement and also can nail some yorkers. So it was a surprise when he went unsold in the IPL 2023 auction.
He was ordinary in the last two IPL seasons, picking up only 5 wickets in 12 IPL matches in last two seasons.
Anyway, he was recently bowling superbly for Chandigarh in domestic cricket: In the SMAT 2022, Sandeep Sharma took 10 wickets in 6 matches, and in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he took 13 wickets in 7 matches. Sandeep is a really good option for MI to replace Bumrah.
Sandeep can provide wickets and control with the new ball in the powerplay, which will allow MI to save an extra over of Archer for middle and death phase.
Varun Aaron
Varun went unsold in the IPL 2023 auction, failing to find a buyer at the base price INR 50 lakh. Now, though, he could be part of the MI setup this season and get another crack in the IPL. Aaron is one of the fastest bowlers in India, regularly clocking 140 KPH, but his career has been plagued with injuries.
He was part of the Gujarat Titans team last season that won the IPL 2022. He picked 2 wickets in 2 matches last season but was expensive, leaking at more than 10 runs an over, and was dropped from the squad.
Now playing for Baroda, Varun Aaron was impressive in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, snapping up 9 wickets in 5 matches and his pace also seemed to be high.
Ankit Rajpoot
29-year-old Ankit Rajpoot is known for his good pace and ability to extract extra bounce due to his height. He has, however, not been able to make a mark in the IPL: from 2013 to 2020, Rajpoot featured in 29 IPL games, snaring 24 wickets. He remained on the bench throughout the IPL 2022 for Lucknow, and went unsold in the IPL 2023 auction.
He has been doing well in the domestic white-ball circuit: Rajpoot picked 11 wickets in 9 VHT matches this season and has bowled with steam and aggression.
Ankit Rajpoot is a candidate that Mumbai Indians can ponder over to rope in as Bumrah’s replacement. He can be used as a middle-overs enforcer because of his knack to hit hard lengths.
