Jasprit Bumrah's Injury Forces Him Out of ICC Champions Trophy; Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy Make the Final Squad

New Delhi: In a major development, the BCCI announced late Tuesday night that Jasprit Bumrah will not be a part of India's squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. This decision comes after lingering doubts about Bumrah's fitness following a back injury. The 27-year-old pacer will not be able to represent India in the tournament. Replacing Bumrah in the final 15-man squad is Harshit Rana, a 23-year-old promising fast bowler. Another surprising change in the lineup is the exclusion of young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, with 33-year-old spinner Varun Chakaravarthy being named as his replacement. India will now have a different bowling attack for the prestigious tournament.

“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. Team India have also named Varun Chakaravarthy in the squad. The spinner will replace Yashasvi Jaiswal who was initially named in the provisional squad,” the BCCI said in a release.

Bumrah, who sustained a back injury while participating in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was recommended to take five weeks off for recovery, as stated by chief selector Ajit Agarkar. Nevertheless, the 31-year-old fast bowler has not managed to heal in time.

Fast bowler Harshit Rana made his One Day International debut in the series against England, where he took four wickets across two matches.

A significant alteration to India’s lineup involves the exclusion of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal from the final team, with mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy replacing him.

Jaiswal and Chakaravarthy both made their One Day International debuts in the series against England.

Chakaravarthy emerged as a strong candidate following his outstanding performance in the T20I series against England, where he took 14 wickets across five matches and was awarded the ‘Player of the Series.’

In 2024, Jaiswal emerged as India’s leading run-scorer in all formats, although he has participated in just one ODI so far, predominantly accumulating his runs in Test matches.

The Indian cricket team has designated three non-travelling substitutes—Jaiswal, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj, and all-rounder Shivam Dube—to step in if any injuries occur.

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.