Mumbai Indians name Malayali pacer Sandeep Warrier as Bumrah's replacement

Mumbai: Mumbai Indians on Friday replaced injured pacer Jasprit Bumrah with Sandeep Warrier for the 2023 Indian Premier League.Bumrah was ruled out of the entire tournament due to a back injury.

Sandeep Warrier, right-arm fast bowler, will join the Mumbai Indians squad as a replacement player for Jasprit Bumrah. Sandeep, who debuted for India in 2021, is an experienced player in the domestic circuit having played over 200 games with 69 of them in T20 format, taking 362 wickets in his career so far across formats, Mumbai Indians said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

The release added, Sandeep will join the Mumbai Indians squad ahead of the team's first game of IPL 2023 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Warrier, who has played 66 First-Class, 69 List A and 68 T20 matches in the domestic circuit taking 217, 83 and 62 wickets respectively, made his debut for India in the shortest format at Colombo in July 2021 against Sri Lanka. He represented Kerala in domestic cricket before moving to Tamil Nadu in 2020.

Mumbai Indians will kick off their campaign with an away game against RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on April 2.

The 29-year-old Bumrah had to undergo a surgery on his back in New Zealand earlier this year which has ruled him out of the entire IPL as well as World Test Championship (WTC) against Australia in June.

However, the right-arm pacer is aiming to come back in the 50-over World Cup which India will host later this year in October-November.

Bumrah, who was spotted at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai last Sunday watching the final of the Women's Premier League with his MI teammates, was also seen chatting with England pace sensation Jofra Archer.

The right-arm pacer Archer is all set to start for Mumbai Indians having missed the IPL last year due to an elbow injury.