The BCCI announced its final squad before the deadline, Bumrah was ruled out while Varun Chakravarthy replaced Jaiswal.
In a significant turn to India’s plans for the Champions Trophy, Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprot Bumrah’s exclusion from the India squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 has caused tension among fans and experts. According to an ESPNcricinfo report, Bumrah underwent a scan on his back, and as per reports, he has yet to fully recover from the discomfort, an injury he suffered during the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at SCG.
While Bumrah’s recent scan reports didn’t reveal anything serious, he is not entirely to return to the ground. Although there is no timeline for his return, he is most likely to resume running in a couple of weeks, and slowly back to bowling. He is monitored under the supervision of BCCI’s medical team in Bengaluru.
However, this is not the first time Bumrah will be missing out on an ICC tournament. He had earlier been absent from the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia due to a back injury that at last required surgery.
Bumrah is being replaced by Harshit Rana, who recently made his ODI debut during the ongoing series against England. In BCCI’s provisional squad, Rana was named Bumrah’s backup for the England series. Rana debuted with the first match of the England ODI series on February 6 in Nagpur and kicked off marvelously until he was thrashed by Phil Salt for 26 runs in his third over. But Rana bounced back, picking three wickets to take the visitor under pressure, which resulted in India’s win.
Selectors panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, in coordination with India team head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma, had picked the seamer from Delhi, instead of the contenders, including Mohammed Siraj. While announcing the provisional squad in January, Rohit explained in a media briefing that Siraj’s “effectiveness comes down a little” if he was not “going to take the new ball”.
Varun Made His Place in the Champions Trophy Squad
In the provisional squad announced in January, Yashasvi was included in the 15-member, however, Varun replaced Jaiswal in the final 15-member squad announced on February 11 by the BCCI. Jaiswal, along with Siraj, and Shivam Dube is included in the non-traveling reserves and will travel to Dubai if needed.
Last week, Rohit hinted that Varun would be added to the squad, remarking that the spinner “clearly had something different about him.” Since his return to India’s T20I team, Varun has taken 31 wickets at an impressive average of 11.25. On Sunday, he also made his ODI debut, claiming 1 wicket for 54 runs in Cuttack.
India’s squad for the Champions Trophy
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy
Non-travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj, Shivam Dube
