"There is no replacement available" - Aakash Chopra suggests 5 pacers who can take Jasprit Bumrah's place in Mumbai Indians' squad for IPL 2023

Aakash Chopra believes the Mumbai Indians (MI) cannot find an ideal replacement for Jasprit Bumrah. However, he suggested a few names who could take the pacer's place in their squad for IPL 2023.

Bumrah has been ruled out of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League due to a back injury. The ace seamer underwent surgery in New Zealand and is likely to be out of action for the next few months.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra highlighted that Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson's unavailability will put the Mumbai Indians in a tight spot, elaborating:

"Both Jhye Richardson and Jasprit Bumrah will not be available. The simple thing is that you won't get anyone like Jasprit Bumrah. There is no replacement available, whatever you might do. There is no one in the entire world, so how will you find one in India?"

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the five-time IPL champions were already short in the Indian seam-bowling department, observing:

"The fast bowling was slightly weak in any case. They didn't keep Indian fast bowlers at all. Jaydev Unadkat and Basil Thampi used to be there but they were shown the exit door. So they didn't have Indian fast bowlers and couldn't shop for them either."

Chopra added that Rohit Sharma's side are unfortunate to be denied the luxury of fielding Bumrah and Jofra Archer together in the playing XI, stating:

"It is damn unfortunate if you are a Mumbai Indians fan or the franchise owner or associated with them. You were desperate to see the pairing of Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah, but something else was acceptable to the universe."

Although Archer was unavailable for IPL 2022, the Mumbai Indians bought the England pacer for ₹8 crore to have him bowl alongside Bumrah in the subsequent edition of the tournament. While Archer is likely to be available this year, Bumrah's injury has put a spanner in the works.

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"They need Indian pacers" - Aakash Chopra on the seamers Mumbai Indians could look to onboard

The Mumbai Indians released Basil Thampi ahead of the IPL 2023 auction. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Chopra feels the Mumbai Indians need to acquire Indian pacers, reasoning:

"What options do they have? You need Indian pacers because if you don't look for them, it won't work out on the Mumbai pitches and you will have to go to Bangalore for a match as well."

The former Indian opener suggested a few seamers who could be considered as Bumrah's replacement, saying:

"Varun Aaron - who was released by Gujarat Titans and doesn't have a team currently. Sandeep Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ankit Rajpoot and Basil Thampi also don't have a team. I can remember only these four or five names. I don't see any other names apart from them."

Chopra concluded by naming Gerald Coetzee, Dasun Shanaka, Wayne Parnell, Dushmantha Chameera, Chris Jordan, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, James Overton, Lance Morris and Dilshan Madhushanka as some of the possible overseas replacements for Richardson.