Jasprit Bumrah’s absence from Champions Trophy will be like Criano Ronaldo not playing in football World Cup: Steve Harminson | Cricket News
Former England pacer Steve Harminson has compared Jasprit Bumrah to Criano Ronaldo. Harminson says if Bumrah will not play in the Champions Trophy, it will be like football World Cup without Criano Ronaldo.
Last month, the Indian Express has reported that India’s strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has swelling on his back, is likely to miss the group stage of next month’s Champions Trophy due to a swelling on his back.
“He’s Jasprit Bumrah. For me, you can’t replace Jasprit Bumrah anytime,” Harminson said on TalkSport cricket.
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“And I mean, I would even go up to the morning of the final to take him that far because he’s Jasprit Bumrah.
“He’s the best in the world. So that would be my take on from an Indian point of view.
“It’s like going to a football World Cup with your best striker, Criano Ronaldo. 15 years ago you don’t replace Ronaldo until you have to replace him. So I think I would imagine that’s what India will do.
“Just put him in the squad and carry him around in a sedan chair. It’s a 14-man squad. That’s good enough to get me through the group games.Story continues below this ad
“We might get him semifinal, more than the semifinal. If he’s not fit, we’ll replace him just in case we have another injury. But he’s Jasprit Bumrah.”
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.
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.Story continues below this ad
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.
