Bumrah has been dealing with a back issue since the fifth and final BGT Test last month.
The right-arm quick has been dealing with a back issue since the fifth and final BGT Test against Australia in Sydney last month.
While Bumrah has been named in India's Champions Trophy squad, his participation in the showpiece tournament depends on the outcome of the scans and assessment at the National Cricket Academy this week.
Amid the uncertainty, cricket legends Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri have said that the potential absence of Bumrah could significantly weaken India's campaign, reducing their chances of winning by nearly 30-35%.
Bumrah was recently crowned the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year for his phenomenal display in 2024. He was instrumental in India's T20 World Cup triumph last year.
“I think it's high risk. There's too much big cricket coming up for India. At this stage of his career, I think he's too precious to be just called on for one game out of the blue and asked to deliver. The expectations will be so much. They'll think that he'll come in straight away and set the world on fire. It's never that easy when you come back from injury,” Shastri told Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“Bumrah not fit will reduce India's chances of winning the Champions Trophy by 30%, literally by 30-35%. With a fully fit Bumrah playing, you are guaranteed those death overs. It would've been a different ball game altogether,” he added.
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting endorsed Shastri's views, citing that Bumrah's workload in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy may have contributed to his injury.
Ponting reckons the spotlight now shifts to Mohammad Shami, who recently made his India comeback after an extended injury hiatus.
“My biggest concern about India when they came for Australia in the Test series was Bumrah not having Shami there as a backup and him having to burden most of the load,” Ponting said on The ICC Review.
“And that's probably what happened, and might even have something to do with why he [Bumrah] got hurt. He probably ended up having to bowl a bit more in that series with Shami not being there.”
Shastri also weighed in on Shami's comeback, emphasizing that his fitness and endurance will be tested in the three-match ODI series against England, starting on February 6 in Nagpur.
“It will be interesting to see if India play him out in all three, or they give him the first one and the third one, and then ease him into the Champions Trophy,” Shastri remarked.
“But he'll be watched very closely because 10 overs is totally different to four overs, and then you're going to see how he pulls up in the field as well having bowled those 10 overs.”
India will open their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
(With IANS Inputs)