Bumrah sidelined indefinitely with back stress fracture

Jasprit Bumrah has been sidelined for an indefinite period with a stress facture in his back, India have announced.

The world's no.3 ranked Test bowler has been ruled out of India's Test series against South Africa and replaced in the squad by Umesh Yadav.

"Team India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has sustained a minor stress fracture in his lower back and has been ruled out of the upcoming Gandhi-Mandela Trophy against South Africa," a statement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) read.

"The injury was detected during a routine radiological screening. He will now undergo rehabilitation and will be monitored by the BCCI Medical Team."

Bumrah, who has five-wicket hauls in Test cricket in England, South Africa and Australia, is ranked third in the official ICC Test bowler rankings behind Australia's Pat Cummins and South African Kagiso Rabada.

He is also the world's No.1 ODI bowler.

No details were given on the expected rehabilitation time-frame, but India fans will cling to the BCCI's description of the stress fracture as "minor".

Bumrah has missed three Tests since his debut in January 2018 against South Africa. Having played 12 of a possible 15 Tests, he has bowled the second-most overs among all Indian bowlers at 451.5, and only four overs less than Mohammed Shami, who has played all 15 Tests.

Only Cummins, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Josh Hazlewood have bowled more overs than Bumrah among fast bowlers since January 2018, and they have all played more Tests than Bumrah.

He has an usual, whippy stiff-arm action and is able to generate speeds of up to 150kph despite a short run-up that stems from his years playing tennis-ball cricket as a youngster.

He praised his junior coaches during India's tour of Australia last summer for throwing out the textbook and encouraging him to persist with his unusual bowling style.

"I've been lucky in that no one has tried to change my action," he said during the Boxing Day Test.

"They thought if I change my action, I'll lose the things that I have. So I've been lucky with that and I've always tried to make my body stronger."

Former India seamer Zaheer Khan this week said his unusual action was an advantage.

“He has got that awkward action which works as an advantage for him, he is keen to learn and driven to excel," Zaheer told Press Trust India this week.

"He has been working on his fitness, adding new things to his bowling. He has evolved as a bowler in a short time, that have been the keys to success.

"It is about how you take things into stride and what kind of approach you have. I think Bumrah has shown all the attitude of achieving that success."

Bumrah took 6-33 in the Boxing Day Test as India won a series on Australian soil for the first time last summer, drawing lavish praise from captain Virat Kohli.

"The mindset he has is what separates him from anyone else in the world right now," Kohli said in Melbourne last December. "He looks at the pitch and he doesn't think, 'It's a hard toil on these wickets'. He thinks, 'How can I make a breakthrough for the team?'.

"Your mindset separates you from the rest and he is as strong-headed as I have seen anyone in the past, and that's the key to his success. That's what I have seen in the past 12 months."

Bumrah finished 2018 with 48 wickets from nine Tests, second among speedster to only South Africa's Kagiso Rabada (52 in 10 Tests).

He has added 14 wickets in just three Tests this year, and took a hat-trick against the West Indies.

"The way he has matured in Test cricket and the areas he has bowled so quickly in his Test career, I think it's a scary sign for the batsmen around the world in Test cricket," Kohli said.