The veteran Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the entire season of the upcoming Indian Premier League 2023. The right-arm pacer has been the lead bowler for India across all formats of the game. However, Jasprit Bumrah has to stay away from the 22-yard due to his back injury during the time of the T20 World Cup 2022 in September. Since then, the 29-year-old didn't see in national colours and will also miss the entire season for Mumbai Indians. Jasprit Bumrah has represented India across 60 T20Is where he scalped 70 wickets at a fabulous economy rate of 6.62. For Mumbai Indias, the veteran Indian pacer has featured in 120 games where he bagged 145 wickets for his side. Hence, Mumbai Indians will miss the services of Jasprit Bumrah. Let's have a look at the five cricketers who might replace injured Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.
Debuting in 2021, Mohit Avasthi has been one of the rising stars in domestic cricket. Having a look at his records in the domestic arena, the latter has played in 13 first-class games where he bagged 37 wickets for his side. Coming to List A cricket, Mohit Avasthi featured in 12 matches and has taken 17 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 5.50. In the previous Syed Mushtaq Ali season, the 30-year-old has done quite well with the ball by picking up 10 wickets in seven games he played. Hence, he would be a good replacement option for Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the contest.
Basil Thampi was signed by Mumbai Indians during the mega auction of IPL 2022 auction after witnessing his consistence performance in the domestic circuit. Despite being roped by Mumbai Indians, Basil Thampi hasn't been much effective with the ball and leaked runs during crunch moments of the game. The Mumbai-based franchise released Basil Thampi but might once again go for him if Jasprit Bumrah rules out the entire season of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League.
Dhawal Kulkarni is one of the finest performers when it comes to the domestic circuit. He already represented Mumbai Indians from the 2008-2013 season. After that, the side once again went to rope the right-arm pacer for IPL 2020 and 2021 where he failed to prove his worth with the ball. Dhawal Kulkarni got successful on several occasions as he scalped 36 wickets after getting featured in 35 matches for Mumbai Indians. Hence, we can expect that the five-time champions might rope in the ace pacer for the upcoming season.
Varun Aaron was on the side of Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans that won the previous edition of the Indian Premier League. He featured for Gujarat Titans in two games where he managed to scalp only 2 wickets at an economy of 10.40. Varun Aaron could be a good replacement option for Mumbai Indians as the latter has a raw pace that can trigger well above the 140s. Despite having pace, Varun Aaron often fails to hit the right line and length which costs him to leak runs in both powerplay and slog overs of the game. However, the right-arm pacer has seen good form in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy, picking up 9 wickets after getting featured in 5 games.
Sandeep Sharma is also a good replacement option for Mumbai Indians ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. The right-arm pacer has the ability to struggle the batters and can provide early breakthroughs with his swing during the powerplay overs. However, Sandeep Sharma went unsold during the IPL 2023 mini-auction. He is a valuable asset for any franchise as Mumbai Indians will keep him on the paper as a replacement option for Jasprit Bumrah.