"I don't want to give any wrong updates" - Chairman of selectors drops huge statement on Jasprit Bumrah's fitness ahead of Champions Trophy 2025
Team India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was included in the Men in Blue's 2025 Champions Trophy squad amid the scrutiny over his injury. The speedster sustained a back injury earlier this month during the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
Speaking about Bumrah's fitness, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar revealed that the pacer was asked to rest for five weeks by the medical team. He emphasized that the team management will get a clear picture of the bowler's availability in mid-February.
Here's what Agarkar said about Bumrah in the press conference on Saturday, January 18 (quoted as saying by News 18):
"We have been waiting to hear back from the physios. From what we know so far, he was asked to offload bowling for five weeks, so we are probably looking at mid-February. We’ll find out in time. I don’t want to give any wrong updates and I am sure the BCCI will put something out soon. We have just been told a timeframe. We are very hopeful."
It is worth mentioning that India's squad for their upcoming three-match home ODI series is the same as their 2025 Champions Trophy, barring one addition. Jasprit Bumrah is expected to miss the first two matches of the rubber and Harshit Rana has been added to the squad as a cover.
India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Jasprit Bumrah was in sensational form in the BGT 2024-25 Test series
Jasprit Bumrah stole the show with his bowling exploits in India's BGT 2024-25 campaign in Australia. He was among the visiting team's few silver linings in their otherwise underwhelming campaign.
The 31-year-old captained India in the Test series opener at Perth, with regular skipper Rohit Sharma unavailable due to paternity leave. Under Bumrah's leadership, the touring party clinched a comprehensive 295-run victory.
Bumrah also led the side in the final Test at Sydney after Sharma opted out of the fixture due to poor form. He didn't bowl in the fourth innings due to injury and India suffered a six-wicket defeat.
The champion bowler bagged 32 wickets across nine innings at a stunning average of 13.06 and was adjudged the Player of the Series.