Ravi Shastri, former head coach of India, feels that Bumrah should not be rushed back into the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy 2025, as India’s chances of winning go down tremendously by 30-35% without him.
He sustained the back injury towards the end of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, and while he has been undergoing rehabilitation with rest for several weeks, there are still reports that he is in the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, Bengaluru, where the medical team is assessing the gradual return for him.
Other reports state that he intends to get back before the third bilateral ODI between India and England on February 12, with less than a week’s gap to the start of the Champions Trophy on February 19.
“It is highly risky because that is too much cricket for India coming up,” Shastri informed the host, Sanjana Ganesan, on The ICC Review. “At this stage of his career, to be called just for one game out of the blue and ask him to deliver is too precious. Expectations will be so much. They’d think he’d come in and set the world on fire. It’s never that easy when you come back from injury.”
“Bumrah not fit will reduce India’s chances [of winning the Champions Trophy] by 30%, literally by 30-35%,” he said. “With a fully fit Bumrah playing, you are guaranteed those death-overs. It would have been a different ball game altogether.”
In the meantime, there is room for optimism following Shami’s return, said former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on the same show. The pacer was sidelined for India’s 2024 international calendar due to an ankle injury and its effects, but he made a comeback in the recently concluded two T20Is against England.
“Most of all, I was worried for India in the Test series when they came to Australia because Bumrah did not have Shami to back him up, and he was doing most of the carrying of the load,” Ponting said. “Possibly that’s what happened, and that might even be a reason for his [Bumrah’s] injury. He probably had to bowl more in that series because Shami was not available.”
Shastri on the other hand doesn’t feel the same way around.
The former Indian coach said,”It will be interesting to see if India will use him in all three or just give him the first and third matches and ease him into the Champions Trophy,” said Shastri. “But he will be monitored quite closely because 10 overs are a whole different ballgame from 4, plus there’s how he would pull up in the field after having bowled the 10.”
