David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd believes India’s hopes of winning the Champions Trophy have been dealt a huge blow with the loss of Jasprit Bumrah.
The elite fast bowler has been ruled out of the ODI tournament, which is set to start next week in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The 31-year-old is widely considered to be the best bowler in the world in all formats due to his pace, variation and consistency.
However, the tournament favourites will be without their star bowler and will have to find an alternative way to take wickets.
It is a huge problem for India, and Bumble is concerned about his absence.
Speaking exclusively to the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube channel, he said: “You are going to miss him.
“You can’t get away from the fact that the best bowler in the world isn’t playing, then you’ve got a problem.”
In ODI cricket, Bumrah has 149 wickets in just 89 matches since making his debut in 2016.
He hasn’t actually played an ODI for India since November 2023, and they’ve managed pretty well without him.
However, he does add something different to their attack, and Mitchell Starc and Mohammed Shami are the only active seam bowlers to have taken more wickets than him in this format.
Bumrah’s absence will impact India big time, and it will boost England, Australia and South Africa, etc, to know their rivals won’t have one of their top players available.
talkSPORT’s Steve Harmison is a huge fan of the bowler and likened him to Cristiano Ronaldo.
Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT Cricket before it was confirmed Bumrah was definitely out of the Champions Trophy, the England icon said: “You can replace him at any time [if he’s injured], but I would give him until the morning of the final [to get fit] because he’s the best in the world.
“It’s like going to a World Cup without your best striker. You know, [Cristiano] Ronaldo 15 years ago, you don’t replace him until you have to replace him.
“It’s a 14-man squad that can get you through the group stage, and if he’s not fit on the morning of the semi-final, you replace him, but he’s Jasprit Bumrah, you have to give him every chance.”
India did try to give him every chance, but he couldn’t prove his fitness.
That now means there is a lot of pressure on Arshdeep Singh who is likely to replace Bumrah in the team.
Singh has enjoyed an incredible T20 career up until this point, taking 99 wickets since his debut in 2022.
When he gets to 100, he will become the first Indian player in history to do so and could easily become the all-time top wicket-taker in international T20s.
Meanwhile, in ODIs, his record is much less impressive, playing nine and taking 14 wickets.
And Bumble thinks that the opposition could get after him.
Again, speaking to the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube channel, he said: “If you are the opposition, test him out, really get into him.
“This is not T20, this not a little party, you’ve got to come back and come back again, and that is something he won’t be used to.
“If you are the opposition, you try and play on that, let’s see what he’s got.”
So, Singh is going to have to step up significantly in Bumrah’s absence, and given he’s seen by some to be like Ronaldo, that won’t be an easy feat.
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