Umesh Yadav replaces injured Jasprit Bumrah in India's Test squad against South Africa
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav has been announced as the replacement for injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah in India's squad for the three-match Test series against South Africa, starting October 2.
Bumrah has sustained a minor stress fracture in his lower back and has been ruled out of the entire Gandhi-Mandela Trophy against South Africa.
The injury was detected during a routine radiological screening. He will now undergo rehabilitation at NCA and will be monitored by the BCCI Medical Team, chief selector MSK Prasad said in a BCCI press release.
India's first Test against South Africa will start on October 2 in Visakhapatnam, followed by the second Test in Pune (Oct 10-14) and the last Test match in Ranchi (Oct 19-23).
According to a BCCI official, Bumrah could also miss the home series against Bangladesh. The series comprises three T20Is, two Tests and will be held from November 3 to 26.
"Jasprit is out for a period of seven to eight weeks minimum. This effectively rules him out of the World Championship games against Bangladesh also. He is out till the end of November. That's how his medical bulletin is at the moment," news agency PTI quoted the official as saying.
"The good thing is that the detection happened at the preliminary stage and that's why it won't take more than two months to heal. Otherwise, a stress fracture takes pretty long to heal," he added.
Bumrah was also not part of the recently-concluded three-match T20I series against South Africa, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
In his last assignment - Test series against West Indies - Bumrah took 13 wickets in two Test matches and was India's highest wicket-taker.
In the West Indies, Bumrah also became the fastest Indian to take 50 wickets in Tests. Bumrah reached the milestone in 11 matches, going past Venkatesh Prasad and Mohammed Shami, who took 13 matches each to touch the mark.
Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav last played a Test for India in December 2018, during the tour of Australia.
He was part of the India A squad that toured the West Indies last month but couldn't make much of an impact.
In the 41 Tests that he has played so far for India, Umesh Yadav has 119 wickets at an average of 33.47.
India's updated squad for 3 Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (Wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (Wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
