In a big blow to India, ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 starting February 19. Bumrah, who sustained a back injury during the final Test against Australia in Sydney last month, has failed to attain full fitness and is replaced in the squad by Harshit Rana. This is the second time in the last five years that Bumrah will be missing a big ICC tournament due to injury, with the previous instance being the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
“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 BCCI said in a release late night on Tuesday.
Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has also secured a place in the squad following his solid performance in the T20I series. Chakaravarthy, who bamboozled England by taking 14 wickets in five T20Is, was rewarded with an ODI call-up in Cuttack, where he picked up 1/54.
“Team India have also named Varun Chakaravarthy in the squad. The spinner will replace Yashasvi Jaiswal who was initially named in the provisional squad,” the release added.
The development comes as a big blow to India’s chances of winning a third Champions Trophy. Bumrah’s performances across formats since returning from his previous lengthy absence from injury has led to him being widely accepted as the best bowler in the world across formats. The 31-year-old was player of the tournament in India’s succesfull 2024 T20 World Cup campaign, taking 15 wickets at a ridiculous average of 8.26.
Bumrah then practically carried the Indian attack throughout the five-match Test series in Australia, which the visitors lost 3-1. While the rest of India’s bowlers left a lot to be desired, Bumrah’s performance had been rated at various points as one of the greatest individual performances by a player in a Test series in Australia. The 31-year-old finished with 32 wickets in nine innings at an incredible average of 13.06.
India’s over reliance on Bumrah had resulted in him bowling lengthy spells and he was even seen wearily asking captain Rohit Sharma to not hand the old ball to him in Melbourne during the fourth Test. The workload finally seemed to have taken a toll during Day 2 of the fifth Test when Bumrah, who was captain for the match with Rohit sitting out, walked off the field in Sydney and was eventually spotting leaving the stadium altogether for scans. He could not bowl in the Indian second innings.
India’s updated squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy
