Champions Trophy 2025: Jasprit Bumrah to undergo scan to confirm berth, likely to be named in squad

Ace India pacer Jasprit Bumrah is to undergo a scan before Champions Trophy 2025. He however will be included in the 15-member squad but his name will be marked with an asterisk, implying subject to fitness.

Jasprit Bumrah is very likely to be named in India’s squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, slated to begin on February 19. The ace pacer suffered a back injury in the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney and for the same reason, he didn’t take the field in the second innings of the match. As per reports, the BCCI medical team gave him a break of five weeks to recover. Bumrah will undergo a scan to determine the nature of his injury following that and it will also decide his participation in the mega tournament.

The 31-year-old is dealing with a stress-related injury, something that has bothered him for almost two years before the Asia Cup 2023. According to ESPNcricinfo, his workload management needs to be blamed as Bumrah featured in all five Test matches in Australia and ahead of that, he played four red-ball matches - two each against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

If the Ahmedabad-born recovers in time, there’s a chance of Bumrah featuring in the final ODI against England, which is slated to be played on February 12. Interestingly, February 11 is the deadline to submit the final Champions Trophy squad to the ICC. As things stand, BCCI will announce Bumrah in the 15-member squad but it will be marked with an asterisk, implying that his inclusion is subject to fitness.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma is likely to share more information on Bumrah’s fitness in the press conference on January 18. India will announce their squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 and the England series on the same day and it needs to be seen if the team management picks an extra pacer to cover for Bumrah.

The focus will also be on Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami. Kuldeep has started practising and has thrown his hat in the middle for selection while Shami has been named in the T20I squad for the England series but it needs to be seen if the selectors consider him fit for ODIs. Iyer, on the other hand, has done well in List A cricket but with Rishabh Pant set for a comeback, BCCI has a tough call to make.