Jasprit Bumrah blow to India for ICC Champions Trophy? Pacer's injury scare amid BGT might spell doom for India

India cricket team may have suffered an early blow ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in the form of Jasprit Bumrah. The stand-in Indian skipper suffered a back spasm during the IND vs AUS 5th Test in Sydney, which forced him to undergo scans and stay off the field partly on Day 2. While Bumrah is India’s most overworked pacer in the recent times, his latest injury could mean that he may not be a part of the squad for the marquee event which is scheduled to begin in February.

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Jasprit Bumrah suffers back spasm, medical team to provide update soon: Prasidh Krishna

No Jasprit Bumrah for CT 2025?

India have been very cautious about Bumrah‘s worload in the past, given his history with injuries. However, the hectic red-ball schedule for the side with their chances of making it to the third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final on the line meant that the pacer had to play in almost all Tests leading up to the New Year. After a small break post the T20 World Cup triumph, Bumrah returned to action in the series against Bangladesh following which he played two out of three games in the series against New Zealand at home. Now, he has featured in all five IND vs AUS Tests in Down Under. While India would have surely sensed the risk of injury by overplaying Bumrah, he is the side’s best bowler and it isn’t anywhere close to safe to play a match without him.

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Bumrah’s latest injury scare could very well mean he may be out of Champions Trophy 2025. The Indian team does have a one-month break before the marquee event. However, given the pacer’s workload over the last six months, it is highly unlkely that the team would want to risk playing him for Champions Trophy. Besides, the IPL 2025 is lined-up shortly after the CT 2025 in which Bumrah would play a crucial role for Mumbai Indians. Following the T20 tourney, he would be expected to join the Test side once again for their tour to England. Hence, it makes all the sense if India should decide to rest the premium pacer and tread carefully with his workload.

India’s CT 2025 bowling line-up sans Bumrah

If Bumrah is indeed ruled out of CT 2025, then India would be relying on a younger bunch of pacers to deliver for them in the marquee event. The team is already one pacer short, with Mohammed Shami not yet recieving a clearance for the event as he has failed to recover completely from his injury. Not to forget, India’s frontline pacer Mohammed Siraj has also had a hectic workload in the last four months, playing beside Bumrah in almost all Tests leading to the 5th Test in Sydney.

In the absence of Shami and Bumrah, Siraj could spearhead the pace attack for India. Arshdeep Singh, one of India’s best white-ball format bowler, is expected to serve as second fiddle. The likes of Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Khaleel Ahmed among others are some of the other alternatives that India can consider. While this pace unit won’t be India’s best, they will have no choice if they want to protect Bumrah from the risk of sitting out for a longer period of time due to injury.

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