• Source:JND
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Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of Champions Trophy 2025: It always looked a race against time for Jasprit Bumrah to make it to India's final squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 amid his reported back issue which he sustained on the Australia tour.

Bumrah was not included in India's 15-member squad for the marquee tournament as the Men in Blue named Harshit Rana as his replacement on Tuesday. The senior pacer's absence will be a huge blow for India in the ICC event, which will be played from February 19 to March 9 across three venues in Pakistan and one in Dubai.

There were concerns regarding Bumrah’s availability for the Champions Trophy since January 4, 2025, but the BCCI included him in India’s provisional squad announced for the ICC event on January 18 in Mumbai.

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Bumrah, who has already undergone lower back surgery in 2022, sustained another stress-related injury while bowling in the final Test against Australia in Sydney, where he pulled out after bowling just 10 overs in the first innings.

He was given complete rest for a month and was not even available for selection for the entire white-ball home series against England.

While BCCI have not given any official update on the extent of Bumrah’s injury, reports claimed that despite getting promising scan reports which were to the board as well as the senior selection committee, the 31-year-old missed out on the selection.

The ball reportedly was on chief selector Ajit Agarkar's court to decide Bumrah's Champions Trophy fate after the medical reports clearly stated that the fast bowler had completed his rehabilitation but wasn't tested in a match situation.

"The report sent by NCA head Nitin Patel clearly states that while he has completed his rehabilitation and scan reports seemed to be okay, it couldn't be concluded whether he would be bowling fit by the time the tournament starts. Hence the selectors didn't take any risk," a BCCI source was quoted by PTI as saying.

"Nitin left the ball in Ajit's (chief selector Agarkar) court and hence no one would want to stick their necks out and take the risk of putting an unfit player in squad. If medical team doesn't green-light fully, how can the selection committee take that risk," the official said.

"The stakes are too high and it would have been a complete embarrassment had Bumrah broken down in a match. The NCA led by Nitin Patel had once burnt their hands in 2022 when they pushed Bumrah for the bilateral series against Australia before the T20 World Cup, and he broke down to be out for one year.

"That was Chetan Sharma's committee and so Agarkar didn't want to take a chance."

While the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru could not confirm his readiness for the tournament, decided not to risk Bumrah, who hasn't yet started bowling at full tilt.

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Bumrah's last white-ball appearance came against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final in Barbados on June 29. He played a huge role in India's T20 WC win and even was adjudged as the Player of the Tournament.

In 89 ODI matches so far, Bumrah has taken 149 wickets at 23.55. He last played an ODI match in 2023 which was the final of the ODI World Cup against Australia in Ahmedabad.