Rahul Dravid, on bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from the T20 World Cup: “It’s a tremendous loss”

Jasprit Bumrah’s withdrawal from the 2017 T20 World Cup due to a back injury will be a “huge loss” for the squad, according to India head coach Rahul Dravid, but he added that it creates a chance for another player to step up and shine.

The BCCI confirmed Bumrah’s absence from the championship tournament in Australia on Monday, handing a blow to the Indian side that has struggled with death overs bowling.

Bumrah’s absence is a significant loss; he was a fantastic player, but it happens; it’s a chance for someone else to go up. We’ll miss him, his presence in the group,” remarked Dravid after India defeated South Africa 2-1 in the three-match T20I series.

“It’s good to see the proper outcomes in both series” (against SA and Australia). You need good fortune and favourable circumstances in this style, especially during close games. In the Asia Cup, we didn’t have that, but we did during the Australia series. India fell to South Africa in the third and final T20I by 49 runs but took the overall series 2-1. They had previously this month defeated Australia by a similar score.

Dravid added, about the team’s new aggressive batting strategy, “We made a choice after the last T20 WC, got down with Rohit, and made a conscious effort to be positive.

“We had to arrange our squad with batting depth, but we have the batsmanship to play positively. I’m happy with how far we’ve come. Before Tuesday’s game, veteran players Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were rested because the series had already been won. The innings were started by Rishabh Pant, while Dinesh Karthik was moved up to the No. 4 position to spend extra time in the middle.

Today was a chance to offer players who haven’t had much batting practice some playing time. It’s difficult for men like Rishabh and Dinesh. They were both batting well, and I wish they could have both kept going, added Dravid.