Bumrah fitness: What is extent of his injury? Will he play Champions Trophy

Bumrah only bowled 10 overs in the Sydney Test vs Australia before picking up a back injury, leaving the field, and being deemed unavailable to bowl for the rest of the match

After going 0-3 down in the Test series against New Zealand at home, India suffered yet another setback. After a long gap of 10 years, they lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia, with the latter clinching the series 3-1. While India struggled significantly in batting throughout the series, they kept themselves in the game with their bowling attack. While it may look like India’s bowlers did a great job as a unit, in reality, one man stood consistently while others only performed in bits and pieces. That bowler was Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who led from the front despite having little to no support from other bowlers across five games. But, as the saying goes, everything has a limit. Bumrah’s constant approach of putting everything on his shoulders eventually took a toll on his body, and he picked up a back injury in the final Test at Sydney, ruling him out of bowling in the second innings.

 

 

Bumrah’s fitness is now a significant concern for India, which is set to host England for the T20 and ODI series before moving to the UAE for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. But will we see the star Indian pacer taking the field on both occasions or at least for the ICC Champions Trophy? That remains a big question.

 

What happened vs Australia 

The series against Australia started with Bumrah not only leading the bowling attack but also being handed the additional responsibility of captaincy in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma. The pacer accepted the task wholeheartedly, bowling 30 overs in the match and taking 8 wickets to help India go 1-0 up in the series.

 

Bumrah did get support from other bowlers in the first match, but the real trouble started after that. With other bowlers failing to deliver consistently, Bumrah was asked to bowl extended marathon spells by returning skipper Rohit Sharma. The pacer bowled 24 overs in Adelaide, 34 in Brisbane, and 53.2 overs in Melbourne, taking the total number of overs bowled by him in the series to 141.2. He started to look uncomfortable by the second innings of the Melbourne Test but still took the field for India as skipper in the final Test at Sydney. However, after bowling only 10 overs in the first innings, he suffered a back spasm and was rushed to a nearby medical centre for a scan to identify the extent of the injury.

 

There were no concerning statements released by the BCCI on his health update, but his unavailability with the ball in the second innings raises questions about the exact nature of Bumrah’s injury and whether he will be able to recover in time for the England series and the Champions Trophy. 

 

Last time Bumrah suffered a back spasm 

Similar to what happened in Australia, Bumrah suffered a back spasm in 2022. He made his return after weeks of rehab but found himself on the sidelines soon after with an aggravated back injury. He was out for almost a year before returning to competition.

 

Should Bumrah be rested for the England series? 

As mentioned earlier, he went through an identical situation three years ago: back spasm, return, and then an aggravated back injury. Keeping this in mind, the BCCI should consider resting Bumrah during the white-ball series against England later this month, even if the pacer is declared fit to play. India needs nothing less than a perfectly fit Bumrah for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, especially when they will be playing their matches in Dubai, where batsmen receive little to no help from the wicket, increasing Bumrah’s importance tenfold, if not a hundredfold.

 

Bumrah for India at ICC events 

Bumrah has been a crucial part of India’s bowling attack for quite some time now, as seen in both the ICC World Cup 2023 and the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The pacer took 20 and 15 wickets in these tournaments, respectively, and was India’s second-highest wicket-taker on both occasions. This proves he is capable of playing both the roles of an attacking and a supporting bowler when needed. If he is to miss the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, India will not only lose one of their most brilliant bowlers for an extremely important event but will also suffer a psychological blow, as no other Indian bowler is currently operating at the level Bumrah has reached in recent years.