Jasprit Bumrah's scans after rehab were reportedly positive.
Jasprit Bumrah was one of the many names excluded from India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad, which was finalized on February 11. He has completed his rehab at the NCA, and the subsequent scans were also deemed okay by the BCCI medical team.
The senior men's team selection committee has picked Harshit Rana as Bumrah's successor for the major tournament, which begins February 19 in Pakistan. India's campaign against Bangladesh will start on February 20 in Dubai.
Varun Chakaravarthy, a mystery spinner, has replaced batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was nominated to the provisional squad. India will play all of their tournament matches in Dubai as part of a hybrid model deal.
Jasprit Bumrah, who had lower back surgery in 2022, suffered another stress-related injury while bowling in the final Test against Australia in Sydney, withdrawing after 10 overs in the first innings.
“Bumrah was asked to off-load for five weeks, after which his rehabilitation at NCA happened under strength & conditioning trainer Rajnikanth and physio Thulasi.
The report sent by NCA head Nitin Patel clearly states that while he has completed his rehabilitation and scan reports seemed to be okay, it couldn't be concluded whether he would be bowling fit by the time the tournament starts. Hence, the selectors didn't take any risk," a top BCCI source told PTI.
“Nitin left the ball in Ajit's (chief selector Agarkar) court and hence no one would want to stick their necks out and take the risk of putting an unfit player in the squad. If medical team doesn't green-light fully, how can the selection committee take that risk," the official said.
During a meeting in Ahmedabad between the chairman of selectors Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir, and captain Rohit Sharma, it was discussed whether to send an unfit Bumrah to the Champions Trophy or the inexperienced Rana.
"The stakes are too high, and it would have been a complete embarrassment had Bumrah broken down in a match. The NCA led by Nitin Patel had once burnt their hands in 2022 when they pushed Bumrah for the bilateral series against Australia before the T20 World Cu,p and he had broken down to be out for one year. That was Chetan Sharma's commitee and so Agarkar didn't want to take a chance,” the report stated.
It is claimed that the primary point of dispute was that Bumrah was yet to begin bowling fully, and many in the know stated that it is extremely difficult to become match-fit in such a short period of time.
Rather, he can return to the Mumbai Indians in the IPL and then lead India in England, as Rohit Sharma is unlikely to be selected for Tests again.
However, the selection committee chose Varun Chakravarthy as the fifth spinner in the squad, who was also added for the England series.
India has also chosen three non-traveling reserves: Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shivam Dube.
India Champions Trophy 2025 squad:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non-traveling reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj ,and Shivam Dube
(PTI inputs)