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'I just hope Bumrah returns soon, because a big player is a big player.'
Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev believes the injury-enforced absence of key players like Jasprit Bumrah can hamper any team and hopes India's pace spearhead will return to action soon.
Bumrah, the ICC Test and Cricketer of the Year for 2024, was ruled out of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy on Tuesday due to a lower back injury.
The 31-year-old, who underwent a lower back surgery in 2022, sustained another stress-related injury while bowling in the final Test against Australia at Sydney last month. He was forced to leave the field after bowling just 10 overs in the first innings.
"The quality of cricket Jasprit Bumrah has played in the last two years has been really impactful and I don't think any other fast bowler in the world has been able to produce that kind of a performance," said Kapil in an interview on Cricket Adda's YouTube channel.
"Big players like Bumrah, R Ashwin, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan who gave out match winning performances and then to see them getting injured is indeed a problem for any side. I just hope Bumrah returns soon, because a big player is a big player," he added.
Bumrah was India's standout bowler last year, playing a pivotal role in India's home wins over England and Bangladesh.
He was also the Player of the Series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, bagging 32 wickets across five Tests. In the past 12 months, he has dominated opponents, picking up 71 wickets in just 13 matches at an impressive average of 14.92.
He became only the fourth Indian bowler to take 70 or more wickets in a calendar year after Kapil, Anil Kumble and R Ashwin.
The national selection committee has named the young Harshit Rana as Bumrah's replacement for the Champions Trophy, starting on February 19 in Pakistan. India will open their campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.
The 1983 World Cup-winning skipper backed the selection of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy for the Champions Trophy.
"He has the ability and has been performing well...whenever a mystery bowler comes into any side then his impact could be seen on the team. The most important thing for him is that how much time will the opponents take to read and play him.
"But so far the way he has performed in the last one or two years, it has been great," said the 66-year-old Kapil, who took 434 wickets and scored 5248 runs from 131 Tests between 1978 and 1994.
Kapil suggested that the BCCI should take some strong measures to ensure that senior India players participate in domestic cricket.
"If you are talking about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, playing Ranji Trophy after 12 years, how is that right? It does not look good at all. It's not because they did not perform. Whether they score runs or not, you have to score runs in domestic cricket...So yes, certain strong measures have to be taken.
"But my point is, had we won or had Rohit or Kohli scored runs, would they have played Ranji Trophy? Don't look at the performances, make the system strong. Whether you score zero or lakhs of runs, play cricket by staying within the system," he said.
Talking about wives accompanying India players on long tours, he said, "Taking your wives on tours is not wrong, but I feel that if the tour is one month, they should not be allowed for the first 20 days so that the players can play together as a team.
"Similarly, for a three-month campaign, at least for a month players should be left alone with the team."