Champions Trophy 2025: Big blow for India as Jasprit Bumrah ruled out, Harshit Rana announced as replacement

Team India received a big setback ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025. The pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the marquee event due to lower back injury, as officially confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, February 11. 

Bumrah has been out of action after suffering an injury on his back in the first innings of the Sydney Test and left the venue to rush to hospital for scans. Bumrah didn’t come out to bowl in the second innings, which cost India as they not only lost the Test series against Australia, but also failed to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a Test series. The 31-year-old was ruled out of the ODI series against England as he would not fit in time for the matches. 

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Despite his injury concern and uncertainty over his participation in the Champions Trophy 2025, Jasprit Bumrah was added to India squad when it was announced by BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar at the press conference alongside Team India skipper Rohit Sharma at the board’s headquarters in Mumbai last month. 

A day before the submission of the final squad to the International Cricket Council, the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia through the press release announced that Jasprit Bumrah would not be available for the Champions Trophy 2025. 

BCCI statement on Jasprit Bumrah

In a statement released by BCCI, Jasprit Bumrah was declared unfit for the Champions Trophy 2025 and Harshit Rana has been added to the squad as his replacement. Also, Varun Chakravarthy has replaced Yashasvi Jaiswal in the main squad. Jaiswal has been included in non-travelling substitutes alongside Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. 

“Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy due to a lower back injury. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Harshit Rana as Bumrah’s replacement.” the statement read.
 
“Team India have also named Varun Chakaravarthy in the squad. The spinner will replace Yashasvi Jaiswal who was initially named in the provisional squad.” statement added. 

It has been reported that Jasprit Bumrah checked in at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and underwent scans as the BCCI selectors and Team India management were awaiting for his medical reports before making a final decision on his participation. Reportedly scans revealed that back injury is not that serious but he is not entirely ready to full bowling. 

No timeline for Jasprit Bumrah’s return 

Since Jasprit Bumrah has been officially ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 after playing a long waiting game before submitting the final squad, the timeline for the pacer’s return to action remains uncertain. The BCCI has not provided any recovery timeline in the statement and it is expected that Bumrah will continue his rehabilitation at NCA. 

The BCCI medical team will closely monitor Jasprit Bumrah’s progress. With India’s pace spearhead being ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 due to back injury, it raises question whether he would be fit in time for the IPL 2025. Bumrah’s similar back injury ruled him out of the T20 World Cup 2022 and IPL 2023. 

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The absence of Jasprit Bumrah at the Champions Trophy is a massive blow for India as he has been a reliable bowler in the ICC tournaments. In the T20 World Cup last year, Bumrah picked 15 wickets and was the Player of the Tournament. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the pacer was the highest wicket-taker of the series, with 32 wickets in nine innings. 

With Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of the marquee event, Mohammed Shami is the only experienced pacer in the squad. Shami returned to international cricket during the T20I series against England and is currently part of the ODI leg of the ongoing white-ball series. Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana are the two specialist pacers in the squad. 

India final squad for the Champions Trophy 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.