5 Players who could replace Jasprit Bumrah for Mumbai in Indian T20 League 2023

The star Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is out of action from international cricket due to the back injury that he sustained before the Asia Cup 2022. Later on, he went on to miss the coveted tournament like the 20-20 World Cup 2022 in Australia; followed by bilateral assignments against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand respectively.

He also missed the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia owing to the time in recovery from the injury. Meanwhile, the media reports understand that he could miss the Indian T20 League 2023 as well; where the five-time champions Mumbai might miss his services in the 15^th edition of the tournament.

With said that, here we’ll have a look at the five pacers who might replace the Ahmedabad-born pacer in the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League.

Sandeep Sharma

The Punjab-born pacer hasn’t featured for India more than 2 T20Is for the national side of India in international cricket. But he has a very decorated domestic T20 and Indian T20 League career to his name. Last year, he was in action for Punjab during the Indian T20 League 2022.

Speaking of Sandeep’s career in the Indian T20 League, he has played 104 matches since his debut in the tournament almost a decade back in the year 2013. Bowling all innings of these 104 matches, the 29-year-old has scalped 114 wickets to his name. Considering his experience in the tournament, Mumbai might count on him in the absence of their star speedster Jasprit Bumrah.

Shashank Singh

The right-arm pacer and batting all-rounder, Shashank Singh is appearing in domestic cricket for the last eight years. Since then, he has played 48 T20s in the domestic circuit so far to scalp 10 wickets. Apart from that, Singh has also contributed both with the bat and the ball in the domestic circuit.

Owing to his skills both with the bat and the ball, Mumbai could go ahead to pick him to fill the void of Jasprit Bumrah. Notably, Shashank might also produce some crucial performances with the bat in the lower order for Mumbai.

Dhawal Kulkarni

The veteran pacer Dhawal Kulkarni is in action in the cash-rich Indian franchise league since its inception almost 15 years back in the year 2008. Since then, he has been a vital part of the Mumbai franchise and played 92 matches in the Indian T20 League so far.

With his amazing bowling, Kulkarni has scalped 86 wickets so far in the tournament with a best performance of 4/14. Including the Indian T20 League, the 34-year-old senior pacer has featured in overall 155 domestic T20s and scalped 151 wickets with two four-wicket hauls to his name. His long and lengthy experience in the tournament will be very helpful for the five-time champions to have the same impact Bumrah would’ve made.

Basil Thampi

The senior Kerala pacer Basil Thampi is in action in the T20 cricket in the Indian domestic circuit. He has scalped 80 wickets in 80 T20 appearances in domestic cricket. After three years of his debut in T20 cricket, Thampi made his first appearance in the Indian T20 League almost six years back in the year.

Since then, he has played 25 matches so far in the tournament to scalp 22 wickets including his best performance of 3/29. His skills with the ball can’t be denied as he could come up as a crucial factor for Mumbai to win the title in this year’s Indian T20 League.

Mohit Avasthi

In his short span of two years in the domestic circuit, Mohit Avasthi has stunned everyone with his amazing performances across all formats of the game. Apart from his excellence in List-A and First-Class cricket, Avasthi has scalped 20 wickets in 12 T20 appearances.

Skipper Rohit Sharma and Mumbai team management might go ahead with the current sensational form of Mohit Avasthi; followed by his inclusion in the squad in place of injured Bumrah. In his last T20 appearance against Himachal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Avasthi scalped three wickets by conceding only 21 runs in his spell of five overs.