'There's a thin line..': Ravi Shastri gives massive warning for India pacer ahead of World Cup

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The ICC World Cup is a few months away. The mega tournament starts in October and India will be hoping to give a decent crack on home soil to end their long-running trophy drought.

Team India has been ravished with injuries in the last year or so. Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja - all have been sidelined or are still sidelined due to injury issues and have missed a chunk of matches.

But a player who hasn't featured since last September is pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. The lethal pacer, who injured his back during Asia Cup last year, has been out of action for almost ten months now. With the World Cup approaching, a fit Bumrah will be crucial for the Indian team.

But former India coach Ravi Shastri has strongly warned against rushing the pacer to the Indian fold ahead of the World Cup, and says it may hamper India's long-time results.

Bumrah was included previously in the Indian team in the last few months, but was later withdrawn as the NCA coaches and doctors felt it was too early for him to return. And Shastri thinks there's no need to rush him into action.

"He (Bumrah) is a very important cricketer. But if you rush him for the World Cup then you might lose him for four months later on, much like Shaheen Afridi. So there's a thin line and it needs to be thought about," Shastri told The Week.

Bumrah missed the T20 World Cup last year, and has missed the IPL 2023 season along with the WTC Final 2023. The timeline of his return is unclear and BCCI has been quite reserved about it as well.

Bumrah's availability is a massive factor for India as the pacer's absence will be a colossal miss for Rohit Sharma and his team. In the recently announced ODI squad against West Indies, Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack along with Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat and Umran Malik.