India must defy Bumrah loss to end trophy drought at T20 World Cup

India are under pressure to win their first global title since 2013 at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia but they must do so without injured pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah.

Rohit Sharma's team open their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 in Melbourne in a hotly anticipated clash which could set the tone for their tournament.

Top-ranked India recently won T20 series at home against Australia and South Africa and have been the team to beat in one-on-one competitions.

Along with England and hosts and holders Australia, they are seen as favourites for the World Cup.

But India have not lifted a world title since the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and have struggled through international tournaments, failing to make the semis of last year's World Cup and missing the finals of the recent Asia Cup.

The pressure is on back home in the cricket-crazy nation and batting great Sunil Gavaskar is backing them to deliver and win the T20 World Cup for a second time, having claimed the inaugural title in 2007.

"It's a fine team with an ideal blend of youth and experience and with a bit of luck (they) can go on to bring the cup home," the former captain wrote in the Times of India newspaper.

There are concerns, however.

India's late-innings 'death' bowling remains a worry after they conceded more than 200 runs in the final overs of their three T20 matches against South Africa on home turf.

Senior pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has struggled in the absence of pace spearhead Bumrah, who was ruled out with a back injury. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also failed to make the squad, with a knee injury.

Standby seamers Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar are expected to replace Bumrah and join a pace brigade that includes Arshdeep Singh, Harshal