Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has missed out on the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy, which will be held from February 19 to March 9. The pacer’s back issue prevented him from recovering in time for the eight-time competition, which will be held in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Previously, reports stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will wait until the deadline (February 11) to choose their roster and make a decision on Bumrah.
Apparently, head coach Gautam Gambhir, captain Rohit Sharma, and Ajit Agarkar discussed Bumrah’s fitness before deciding on his participation.
Earlier, there were concerns about Bumrah’s eligibility for the mega event following a back injury incurred during the Border Gavaskar Trophy. He was unable to bowl in the second innings of the New Year’s Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground due to back issues. Bumrah has not played a competitive game since.
Despite not playing in the first two games in Nagpur and Cuttack, Bumrah was selected for the three-match ODI series against Jos Buttler’s England.
In order to get Bumrah fit for the Champions Trophy, a committed three-person team at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru put in a lot of effort, according to a PTI report earlier on Monday.
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VARUN CHAKRAVARTHY INCLUDED IN THE SQUAD
In addition, India replaced Yashasvi Jaiswal in their squad with Varun Chakravarthy.
After winning Player of the Series in the Twenty20 Internationals, Chakravarthy was given a direct call-up to the Indian ODI team for the series against England. In the second match at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Chakravarthy made his ODI debut.
On February 20, India will play Bangladesh’s Najmul Hossain Shanto at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in their Champions Trophy opener. Their big match against Mohammad Rizwan’s Pakistan occurs on February 23.
INDIA’S SQUAD FOR CT 2025
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.
