Bumrah Returns Home for Personal Reasons, Availability for Remaining T20Is Uncertain

Team India’s fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was suddenly kept out of the five-match series of T20 between India and South Africa. A new face in the playing eleven was Harshit Rana. He was replaceing Jasprit Bumrah. Jasprit Bumrah was spotted practicing with the team in Dharamsala too. It came as a shock for his fans that he was suddenly replaced by the team. However, BCCI issued a statement for his performance.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that an update on whether he would play in the series of matches scheduled to be held in Lucknow and Ahmedabad would be issued shortly," the statement says. The BCCI said in a statement, "Jasprit Bumrah has returned home due to personal reasons. He will not be available for the third match. An update on his inclusion in the squad for the remaining matches of the series will be provided soon." Bumrah took two wickets in the first match of the series played in Cuttack, but went wicketless in the second match played in New Chandigarh, conceding 45 runs.

Axar Patel was also dropped from the playing XI for the third T20I. However, he was ruled out of the third match due to ill health. Harshit Rana and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav were included in the playing XI in place of Bumrah and Patel. India and South Africa are playing a five-match T20I series. Team India won the first match by 101 runs, after which South Africa won the second match by 51 runs to level the series 1-1.

India's playing XI: Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy.

South Africa's playing XI: Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock (wicketkeeper), Reeza Henriques, Dewald Brewis, Triston Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, and Ottneil Bartman.