Jasprit Bumrah has been named in India’s 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy despite concerns over his recovery from an injury sustained during the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
With Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of the national selection committee, hopeful that the pace ace would recover in time for the tournament that begins on February 19, no back-up has been named for Bumrah, in case he fails to be match-ready in time.
However, the seasoned campaigner, who has been advised two-weeks of off-loading by the BCCI’s medical team, will not feature in the T20Is and ODIs against England, and youngster Harshit Rana will take his place for the home series.
“With Bumrah, we are waiting to hear about his fitness and when he is likely to be available. So, Harshit Rana will be part of the one-day squad against England right now. Because at the moment, I don’t think he’s likely to be fit for the first couple of games, at least from what we gather,” Agarkar said on Saturday, adding that more updates on Bumrah’s fitness is expected over the next few weeks.
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While he did not reveal the exact nature of Bumrah’s injury and left it for the Board’s medical team to answer, India also named seasoned fast bowler Mohammed Shami in the squad for the ICC event, while Mohammed Siraj missed out as the think-tank preferred Arshdeep Singh for his expertise in bowling in the death overs.
Having been out of international cricket since November 2023, Shami will return to action during the T20Is against England, beginning next week. However, both Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that the decision to go ahead with three seamers was taken after a lot of deliberation.
“We discussed it at length and we are only taking three seamers there because we wanted all the all-rounders to be with us. It’s an unfortunate thing that he (Siraj) has to miss out, but we had no option but to get the guys who can perform a certain role,” Rohit said.
“We have guys who can bowl with the new ball and be effective in the middle and then effective at the back end, so you need to cover all three facets of the game. With these three boys, I think we can do that. Arshdeep hasn’t played a lot of ODIs, but he’s been around the white-ball circuit for a long time,” the captain added.
With Bumrah likely to undergo scans in the first week of February, India still has a bit of time. However, in case he fails to recover in time, it will be a significant setback for India. He was in exceptional form during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, taking 32 wickets across five matches at an average of 13.06 to earn the Player of the Series award. He also captained the team in the first and final Test.
And, now with concerns remaining over his availability, Shubman Gill will be Roht’s deputy for the ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy.
The squads
Champions Trophy
Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.
England ODIs
Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.