‘It’s a team game, why talk about Bumrah?’: Kapil Dev

India legend Kapil Dev has weighed in on the unfortunate injury setback to pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah ahead of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy While acknowledging Bumrahrsquos impact he emphasised that the team must step up in his absenceBumrah has been ruled out of the marquee tournament due to a lower back injury sustained while leading India in the final Test of the BorderGavaskar Trophy in Sydney He was Indiarsquos best bowler in the series consistently troubling Australian batters with his exceptional control and aggressive bowling His absence is a significant blow to India especially given his matchwinning performances in the 2024 T20 World CupExIndia skipper Kapil Dev in Kolkata yesterday PicPTIHowever Kapil urged players to focus on supporting each other rather than dwelling on injured players ldquoWhy talk about someone who is not in the team Itrsquos a team game and the team have to win not individuals This is not badminton tennis or golf we are playing a team sport in the Champions Trophy If we play as a team we will definitely winrdquo said the 66yearold during at the Tata Steel Golf prize distribution ceremony here ldquoYou never want your main players to get injured but if it happens you canrsquot do anything about it Good luck to my Indian team mdash go and play wellrdquo he addedShami to lead pace attackIn Bumrahrsquos absence Mohammed Shami will take over as the pace attack leader with Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana competing for the other fastbowling slots The spin department will see a tussle between Washington Sundar Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy while spinbowling allrounders Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja will add depth to the squadThe 1983 World Cupwinning captain Kapil Dev also expressed concern over the rising number of injuries among Indian cricketers attributing it to the demanding schedule that keeps players in action for almost 10 months each year The National Cricket Academy in Bangalore has turned into a rehabilitation hub with players spending more time recovering than trainingToo much cricket injuriesldquoThe only thing that worries me is that they play for 10 months a year mdash injuries will be much more commonrdquo the former allrounder said Kapil also expressed excitement about the rising talent in Indian cricket ldquoWhen you see the youngsters their confidence is unbelievable We didnrsquot have this much confidence when we were young Good luck to themrdquo he concludedBCCI secy Jaspritrsquos absence wonrsquot disrupt team combinationBCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has backed the Indian team to be a strong contender to lift the ICC Champions Trophy despite the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah Saikia credited the Ajit Agarkarled selection committee for picking the best combination for the eightteam marquee competitionDevajit SaikialdquoWe have picked the best team for the Champions Trophy And I believe we will win the trophy India have such a big bench strength and I donrsquot think it Bumrahrsquos absence will have any major issue with the team combinationrdquo Saikia saidTalking about the form of senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli the BCCI secretary expressed confidence in the duorsquos ability to shine in the tournament Rohit slammed a century in the second ODI against England while Kohli ended his dry run with a halfcentury in the final ODI as the host whitewashed the series 30ldquoEverything is very positive in the team see the England series the results are in front of you The conditions will be more or less the same in Dubai like the Indian conditionsrdquo Saikia saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever