Jasprit Bumrah, Pat Cummins lead big names missing Champions Trophy as injuries rip through star cast

Jasprit Bumrah

Arguably the most high-profile player missing is Jasprit Bumrah, who has widely established himself as one of the best bowlers in international cricket. Bumrah’s back injury, sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, has not recovered as well as India would have hoped for. The team will miss their marquee superstar pace bowler, who has been phenomenal in all forms of the game on every stage, with a relatively inexperienced replacement in Harshit Rana named his replacement.

Pat Cummins

The Australian skipper is the other of the big-name pace-bowling triumvirate that is usually compared to each other that misses out, meaning Kagiso Rabada will be the only one flying the flag in Pakistan. While Cummins missed the ongoing tour in Sri Lanka due to a paternity leave, an injury he sustained has ruled him out of the Champions Trophy as well. As much as his bowling, Australia stand to lose out on his captaincy.

Mitchell Starc

While Cricket Australia announced that Mitchell Starc will miss the Champions Trophy, the statement claimed it was due to unspecified personal reasons. Starc remains one of the premier pace bowlers in world cricket, and is particularly clutch under pressure in key games, which makes him a match-winner at the most important stages of a tournament. Nevertheless, Australia will have an opportunity to start playing Starc’s long-term successor Spencer Johnson in big tournament games.

Josh Hazlewood

The third head missing from Australia’s three-headed pace dragon, Josh Hazlewood’s non-inclusion due to injury means Steven Smith will now be captaining a new-look and relatively inexperienced unit in Pakistan, in particular in the bowling department. Hazlewood was arguably the most important bowler for Australia in the World Cup in India, integral to their late success in the semifinal and final as he dried up runs and opened the door for wickets to fall from his bowling or the other end.

Gerald Coetzee

Some bad injury luck for Gerald Coetzee continues. Coetzee established himself as a white-ball force with some high-effort spells during the World Cup, and his presence meant that South Africa had more weapons with which to attack. With Anrich Nortje missing, South Africa go into the Champions Trophy heavily reliant on Kagiso Rabada to carry the pace-bowling attack.

Jacob Bethell

Some unfortunate luck for Jacob Bethell on the eve of his debut in an ICC tournament for England. The exciting left-handed batter was set to have an impact with bat in hand, but has shown himself to be more than handy with the ball as well, with his spin an important asset for an England team lacking a true second spinner to support Adil Rashid. England look disbalanced without Bethell, and this could be a crucial miss in this tournament.

Saim Ayub

A big, big blow for the hosts. Saim Ayub very much looked to be Pakistan’s batter of the future, even this early into his career. In just nine ODIs, the 22-year-old has already struck three centuries, averaging over 64 with the bat so far. Pakistan will be eager to defend their Champions Trophy crown, but Ayub’s ankle injury will mean there is a problem to be solved ahead of the league campaign.

Allah Ghazanfar

Another young superstar who will not be able to make their tournament bow, Afghanistan are one team who cannot afford key injuries if they want to cause some upsets and leave a mark on proceedings. A tall, devastating spinner who has shown himself to be capable of spinning webs around opposition batters, Ghazanfar would have been horrific to play against in the middle overs alongside Rashid Khan. The teenager suffered a spinal injury, which will keep him out for at least four months.

Marcus Stoinis

Another Australian player who will miss out and necessitate a younger replacement is Marcus Stoinis, who announced his retirement from the ODI format despite being named in the squad, and has since watched his would-be teammates drop out from the tournament in quick succession. Stoinis provides some extra versatility and power that Australia could sorely lack, especially with Mitchell Marsh already missing through his own sustained injury problems.