Mumbai, Feb 11 (IANS) India’s pace bowler spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy due to a lower back injury. The Men’s Selection Committee has named allrounder Harshit Rana as Bumrah’s replacement.
Team India have also named spinner Varun Chakaravarthy in the squad. The spinner will replace Yashasvi Jaiswal who was initially named in the provisional squad, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia informed in a release on Tuesday.
Bumrah had suffered a back injury while leading India in the fifth and final Test of the Board-Gavaskar Trophy series in Sydney. He was India’s best bowler in Australia, claiming the most wickets for the visitors, troubling every batter with his superb bowling.
His absence will be a huge setback for India ahead of the Champions Trophy, in which India will be playing their matches in Dubai. Bumrah was the star of the Indian team’s triumph in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 and would have been crucial to India’s chances in the Champions Trophy, which will be played in Pakistan and UAE from February 19.
Harshit Rana, who has been named Bumrah’s replacement in the squad, made a superb debut for India in the ODI series against England recently. He had also claimed three wickets on his T20I debut as a concussion substitute against England.
India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy, 2025: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non-travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. The three players will travel to Dubai as and when required.
–IANS
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