Mumbai Indians will be without Jasprit Bumrah for the foreseeable future. Even though a video clip of him bowling at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru went viral, the premier pacer hasn’t received the fitness clearance. He is currently being monitored by the BCCI medical team and the sports science division at the National Cricket Academy. Bumrah has been out since the Australia tour with a lower back injury. He did not feature in the Champions Trophy and hasn’t played in the IPL 2025 yet.
“He is recovering well. For Bumrah, you can never set a timeline for his return. He is slowly building up the workload. That puts him on track to return in, maybe, around two weeks,” a BCCI official told InsideSport.
Jasprit Bumrah’s Injury Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| January 4, 2025 | Jasprit Bumrah sustains a stress-related lower back injury during the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Sydney. |
| Mid-January 2025 | India’s chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, confirms that Bumrah has been advised a minimum of five weeks of rest by the BCCI medical team. |
| Late January 2025 | Despite his injury, Bumrah is included in India’s provisional squad for the Champions Trophy. |
| Early February 2025 | Travels to Bengaluru for fresh scans to evaluate his back condition. |
| Mid-February 2025 | Continues to experience discomfort and is subsequently left out of India’s final Champions Trophy squad. |
| March 14, 2025 | Reports stated that Bumrah would miss the opening matches of IPL 2025 for Mumbai Indians, and that is exactly what happened. |
| March 23, 2025 | Reports stated that Bumrah would miss the opening matches of IPL 2025 for the Mumbai Indians, and that is exactly what happened. |
| March 29,2025 | Once again, he was not in MI’s playing XI in the match against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad as he missed another game. |
| March 30, 2025 | Resumes bowling workload at the CoE with no timeline of return |
On track to return for IND vs ENG Test
While no one at the BCCI or the NCA is confident of his availability in the IND vs ENG Test series in June, he is “on track to return”. What does that mean? With Bumrah, there is no rushing his return. Only when the doctor, the physio and the player are in consensus that he is 100% match fit, NCA will give the clearance.
So far, Jasprit Bumrah is not at 100%. They are hoping for his return in the second half of IPL 2025. But that timeline could change based on further assessment next week or the week after.
“It’s always tricky with Bumrah. So, the amount of workload must increase slowly. That takes time. So to say that he will be ready in two weeks’ time is just an assumption based on the current assessment. It can change next week, we don’t know. At this moment, we believe he will be fit by the second or third week of April,” the official said.
Shane Bond’s warning about Bumrah
Former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond also faced similar issues during his career. Bond faced recurring back injuries similar to Bumrah’s. The Kiwi fast bowler, who worked with Bumrah at Mumbai Indians, warned the BCCI not to overuse the pacer in England. India will play a five-match Test series in England, and the workload could be massive.
“What India would have learned is, if you then look at a five-Test match series in England and they do the same thing, they are probably going to get the same result. So you can’t do that. You need a squad of bowlers where you can sort of pick and choose. Because if you lose him, you have got T20 World Cups, you’ve got 50-overs World Cups and he’s an important member across all formats, IPL, all that sort of stuff,” Shane Bond, who is at Rajasthan Royals now, told ESPN Cricinfo.
India Cricket Team missed his services at the Champions Trophy, although they came out on top. Mumbai Indians are missing his services. But India need him at 100%, not 80/90%.
Jasprit Bumrah has bowled 386.4 overs since 2024 across formats, the most by any pacer in the world. He has been extremely successful with 86 wickets, including five fifers. Now, he needs to recover as India’s hopes of winning in England after 39 years are pinned on him.
