Jasprit Bumrah Set To Start Rehabilitation At NCA As India Fret Over Ace Pacer's Availability Despite Champions Trophy Selection: Report

India's ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is set to start his rehabilitation journey at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after he underwent scans and thorough assessment under the watch of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team, marking a significant step towards his recovery ahead of the highly anticipated ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

According to a report in Times of India on Sunday, Bumrah's injury have been internally reviewed and discussed. As a result, the seamer is expected to initiate his rehabilitation process, which will involve gentle physical activities such as gym workouts and possibly some light bowling, within the next 24 to 48 hours.

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With the International Cricket Council's (ICC) deadline for making changes to the Champions Trophy provisional squad looming - February 11 midnight Dubai time - it is likely that the Indian cricket board will adopt a wait-and-watch approach regarding star pacer's inclusion.

This would not be the first time the if board decided to delay a decision on injured players as they had previously demonstrated this approach during the 2023 ODI World Cup when Hardik Pandya suffered an injury during the group stages.

"Even if there is a 1% chance, the BCCI is likely to wait. They did the same with Hardik Pandya as they waited for close to two weeks before getting Prasidh Krishna as a replacement. Even when Shubman Gill was down with dengue, they didn't have any thoughts of looking for a replacement. Yes those two incidents happened during the campaign but approach with Bumrah could well be no different. This is just the deadline to submit the squad and they could approach the Event Technical Committee at a later stage to seek a replacement if he fails to regain fitness," a source close to developments told TOI.

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India's ace seamer was asked to off-load for five weeks after the last Test against Australia in Sydney and since then the BCCI has not provided a clear update on the nature and extent of his injury as a result, the suspense regarding his return to competitive cricket remains.

The pacer was originally added to the Indian ODI squad for the ongoing series against England. However, in a subsequent update, his name was noticeably absent from the squad list when Varun Chakaravarthy was added to the team.