Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to recover in time for the Champions Trophy next month and is, therefore likely to miss the entire white-ball series that begins later this month against England. While he was to miss all the T20I matches, which was going to be his case anyway with it not being a World Cup year, there had been hope for at least a cameo appearance for him in any of the three ODIs to be played on February 9.
A decision on his participation in the remaining two games would be taken in the coming days, as the nature and gravity of the injury he has suffered in the fifth Test against Australia last week are still not known. The official statement is that Bumrah suffered from back spasms that kept him off the field during Australia’s second innings in Sydney.
According to Sports Tak, the 31-year-old pacer will consult both the BCCI medical team and the doctor in New Zealand who operated on his back in March 2023, to decide his availability.
All the decisions about his treatment and his recovery will be taken in consultations with BCCI doctors and the doctor of his team New Zealand. Within days, one will realize just how much this injury has bothered him,” the source said. The contact he’s still maintaining with doctors and which would be determinative as to what really is the case, of how grave this type of injury really is, required that kind of medical tests,” the source continued. Rest him if need be, not for questions.
Depending on the intensity of the injury, Bumrah could be out for as short a period as two weeks or as long as three months. But the BCCI is keeping its fingers crossed that the star pacer might make it just in time for the ICC Champions Trophy, which will commence on February 19.
Bumrah was the star performer of India during the recent Australia tour, where he took 32 wickets from five matches and won the player-of-the-series award. He also led the Indian team in two Tests in Rohit Sharma’s absence.
India will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on February 20. They will host England for five T20Is and three ODIs before that, starting January 22.
