India pacer Jasprit Bumrah will reportedly miss the group stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament. The tournament, which kicks off on February 19, will feature the top eight ODI teams in the world. India's matches will be held in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Dubai.
According to information obtained by The Indian Express, Bumrah has been requested to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru so that his recuperation may be tracked. He has back swelling.
It is believed that Bumrah's fitness condition was communicated to the national selectors, who convened in Mumbai on Saturday to choose the squad for the T20I series against England at home later this month. The BCCI has requested an extension even though the Champions Trophy team announcement date is Sunday.
The decision to include Bumrah in the tournament's roster of reserve players or include him in the squad of 15 is being debated by the selectors. The International Cricket Council will initially receive a tentative team from the BCCI, according to information obtained.
Because team changes are permitted until February 12, selectors have more time to keep an eye on Bumrah's development as the competition draws near.
“He (Bumrah) will be going to NCA for his rehabilitation. The initial report says he doesn’t have a fracture but has swelling on his back. So the NCA will monitor his recovery and he will be there for three weeks. But even after that, he will have to play a match or two, even if they are practice games organized to check his match fitness,” the source told Indian Express.
It's unknown if Bumrah will be fit to participate in India's last group encounter against New Zealand on March 2. India will first play Pakistan on February 23 and Bangladesh on February 20.
India declined to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns, and the ICC agreed to a hybrid model, thus all of their matches will be played in Dubai. March 4 and 5 are the dates of the semi-finals, while March 9 is the date of the final.
Bumrah could bowl only 10 overs in the final test of BGT 2024 and didn’t bowl at all in the second innings. Bumrah has had issues with his back earlier too. After undergoing surgery, he missed nearly 11 months of cricket — from September 2022 to August 2023. He made a comeback in the T20I series against Ireland.
The Indian squad's management has been aware of his workload to prevent the strike bowler from overworking himself. At the beginning of last year, Bumrah was rested for the fourth Test match against England in Ranchi. In order to be healthy for the Test series in Australia, he was rested for the third and final Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai.
In five Test matches in Australia, Bumrah bowled 151.2 overs at a strike rate 28.3 and an average of 13.06. Due to Rohit Sharma's absence, he also served as the interim captain for the first Test match in Perth. When Rohit chose not to play in the last Test match in Sydney, Bumrah also captained the team.
