Jasprit Bumrah set to miss Champions Trophy group stage matches because of back swelling | Cricket News

IN A setback for India, strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the group stage of next month’s Champions Trophy due to health reasons.
The Indian Express has learnt that Bumrah, who has swelling on his back, has been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru where his recovery will be monitored.
The Champions Trophy, which will have the world’s top eight ODI teams, begins on February 19, with the matches scheduled at Karachi, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Dubai for India’s games.
The national selectors, who met in Mumbai on Saturday to pick the team for the T20 series at home against England later this month, are learnt to have been updated about Bumrah’s fitness status. Though the deadline for announcing squads for the Champions Trophy is Sunday, the BCCI has sought an extension.
Selectors are considering whether they should name Bumrah in the squad of 15 or add him to the l of reserve players for the tournament. It is learnt that the BCCI will initially submit a provisional squad to the International Cricket Council. As changes to teams can be made till February 12, it gives selectors time to monitor Bumrah’s progress closer to the tournament.
According to a BCCI source, Bumrah is expected to be fully fit only the first week of March. “He (Bumrah) will be going to NCA for his rehabilitation. The initial report says he doesn’t have a fracture but has swelling on his back. So the NCA will monitor his recovery and he will be there for three weeks. But even after that, he will have to play a match or two, even if they are practice games organised to check his match fitness,” said the source.
While India’s last group match, against New Zealand, is on March 2, it is unclear if Bumrah will be ready to play. Prior to this, India will play Bangladesh on February 20 and Pakan on February 23. India will play all their matches in Dubai, as the team refused to travel to Pakan citing security concerns and the ICC agreed to a hybrid model. The semi-finals are on March 4 and 5, and the final on March 9.
In the recent five-match Test series in Australia, Bumrah took 32 wickets and won the player of the series award. He sat out on the final day of the series in Sydney because of his injury. Australia won the series and took the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Bumrah has had issues with his back earlier too. He missed nearly 11 months of cricket — from September 2022 to August 2023 — after undergoing a surgery. He made a comeback at a T20 match against Ireland.
The Indian team management has been mindful of his workload to prevent the strike bowler from straining himself. Bumrah was rested for the fourth Test against England in Ranchi at the start of last year. More recently, he was rested for the third and final Test against New Zealand in Mumbai so he could stay fresh for the Test series in Australia.
In Australia, Bumrah bowled 151.2 overs in five Test matches with an average of 13.06 and a strike rate of 28.3. He was also the stand-in captain for the first Test in Perth as Rohit Sharma skipped the match. Bumrah also captained the side for the final Test in Sydney when Rohit decided to sit out.

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