The Indian team has been hit with an illness bug at the start of their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign as Jasprit Bumrah suffered a viral fever, which forced him to miss the tournament opener against the United States of America (USA) in Mumbai while Abhishek Sharma reportedly played the game with a fever and was later admitted to a hospital due to a stomach infection after the team arrived in Delhi for their second game against Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Thursday (February 12).
On the eve of the fixture, the Indian camp has provided major updates on both players. Tilak Varma addressed a press conference in Delhi and revealed whether the star opener and pacer will play the game for the hosts. The Indian batter confirmed reports that Abhishek had been admitted to a hospital but revealed he has been discharged.
"Abhishek has been discharged today. We will decide how he feels tomorrow and take a call on the game," said Tilak. "Bumrah is absolutely fine and hopefully he will be back in the team," he added.
Sanju Samson was seen having a long hit in the nets on Tuesday (February 10) and is likely to open the batting with Ishan Kishan if Abhishek is not ready to play. Bumrah is likely to return to the line-up and will take Mohammed Siraj's place.
In Bumrah's absence, India started their campaign with a 29-run victory over the USA. Siraj was India's best bowler of the day with figures of 3/29 in four overs in what was his first T20I appearance for India since July 2024. The pacer was drafted into the squad just a day before the game as a replacement for Harshit Rana, who suffered a knee injury and was ruled out of the tournament.
Abhishek played the game but was dismissed for a duck and did not field due to his health issue.
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Aayush Kataria is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Network with four years of experience, having started his career in the organisation. He is a key memb...View More
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