Explained: Why Jasprit Bumrah Has Been Ruled Out Of Champions Trophy 2025

“Fast bowler 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 Harshit Rana as Bumrah’s replacement," BCCI said in a release on Tuesday night.

“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 that 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 PTI on Tuesday night.

“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.

“The stakes are too high and it would have been a complete embarrassment had Bumrah broken down in a match. The NCA led by Nitin Patel had once burnt their hands in 2022 when they pushed Bumrah for the bilateral series against Australia before the T20 World Cup and he had broken down to be out for one year. That was Chetan Sharma’s committee and so Agarkar didn’t want to take a chance," he concluded.

The 31-year-old cricketer from Ahmedabad suffered a back injury during the fifth India-Australia Test match in January 2025. He left the match midway on Day 2 and went for scans. He didn’t come out to bowl in the second innings due to a back spasm.

There were question marks over Bumrah’s availability for the Champions Trophy since January 4, 2025, but the BCCI included him in India’s provisional squad announced for the ICC event on January 18 in Mumbai.

Bumrah last played a 50-over match for India on November 19, 2023, against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In that match he picked up two wickets but failed to help the Rohit Sharma-led side get the better of Pat Cummins & Co. and win the ODI World Cup 2023 title.

Bumrah’s last white-ball match for India was against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2024 final, which was played at Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 29, 2024. In that match as well, the right-arm fast bowler picked up two wickets and played a big role in India’s title win. For his superb show in the tournament with the ball, Bumrah won the Player of the Tournament award in the T20 World Cup 2024.

The BCCI has not given any official update on the extent of Bumrah’s injury, and it remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to take part in the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League for the Mumbai Indians. Bumrah, who made his IPL debut in 2013, was retained for Rs 18 crore by the Mumbai-based franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.