Bumrah 'okay' but omitted: Why selectors didn't risk Champions Trophy move

Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah's exclusion from India’s squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 has become a topic of discussion, especially since the pacer was reportedly deemed ‘okay’ by the National Cricket Academy (NCA). However, the Indian selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, opted not to risk the star bowler’s fitness in a crucial tournament.

Notably, Bumrah has been out of action since the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Since then he has been undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA, in Bengaluru. The Ahmedabad-born was initially included in the ODI squad against England but was later withdrawn, questioning his availability for the Champions Trophy. On February 11, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) announced his omission from the tournament, replacing him with young pacer Harshit Rana.

The right-arm speedster had completed his rehabilitation, and his medical scans showed no significant issues. However, the selectors were hesitant since there was no clarity on whether he would be bowling fit by the time the tournament started.

"Bumrah was asked to off-load for five weeks after which his rehabilitation at NCA happened under strength & conditioning trainer Rajnikanth and physio Thulasi. 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 top BCCI source was quoted as saying by India Today.

"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 added.

Jaiswal misses out, Varun included in Champions Trophy squad

Apart from replacing Bumrah with Rana, the selectors also included Varun Chakaravarthy in place of Yashasvi Jaiswal. India’s squad will fly to Dubai on February 15 to begin preparations for the Champions Trophy, which kicks off on February 19.

Also Read: Champions Trophy 2025: Jasprit Bumrah ruled out, Varun Chakravarthy added to final India squad

India squad for Champions Trophy 2025:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, and Varun Chakaravarthy.

Non-travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj.