Former players Ravi Shastri and Ricky Ponting shared their opinion about Jasprit Bumrah’s injury issues and how it can affect India’s chances in the Champions Trophy. The marquee event is set to take place from February 19 to March 9 in Pakistan and the UAE.
In the last few years, Bumrah has emerged as the finest bowler for the Men in Blue across all formats. He picked 20 wickets in the 2023 World Cup and played a key role in taking India to the final. He then produced exceptional performances in the 2024 T20 World Cup, taking 15 wickets at a mind-boggling average of 8.26, which helped India to secure a title victory.
Jasprit Bumrah was the top performer for the Indian side in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 32 wickets in nine innings, despite India going down 3-1. However, Bumrah sustained a back injury in the final Test, and could throw down only 10 overs. Since then, he has been out of action and is doubtful for at least the league stages of the Champions Trophy.
As a result, Harshit Rana has been slotted into the Indian side for the first two ODIs against England, while Jasprit Bumrah’s participation is subject to fitness in the final ODI. The three-match ODI series takes place between both sides from February 6 to 12.
Shastri feels Bumrah’s unavailability will hurt India’s chances of winning the Champions Trophy. As per him, India could face problems in death overs, where the pacer helped India to keep the opposition quiet.
“I think it’s high risk. There’s too much big cricket coming up for India,” Shastri told Jasprit Bumrah’s wife Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review.
“And at this stage of his [Bumrah’s] career, I think he’s too precious to be just called on for one game out of the blue and asked to deliver. The expectations will be so much. They’ll think that he’ll come in straight away and set the world on fire. It’s never that easy when you come back from injury,” Shastri continued.
“Bumrah not fit will reduce India’s chances [of winning the Champions Trophy] by 30%, literally by 30-35%. With a fully fit Bumrah playing, you are guaranteed of those death overs. It would’ve been a different ball game altogether,” he added.
Ricky Ponting feels Mohammed Shami will have excess load in absence of Jasprit Bumrah
Ricky Ponting feels Jasprit Bumrah’s non-participation in the Champions Trophy will put pressure on Mohammed Shami, who recently returned to the side after a year-long hiatus. He cited the example of BGT 2024-25, where Bumrah faced the burden of taking wickets, while Shami was still not fit enough to play Test cricket.
“My biggest concern about India when they came for Australia in the Test series was Bumrah not having Shami there as a backup and him having to burden most of the load,” Ponting said on The ICC Review.
“And that’s probably what happened, and might even have something to do with why he [Bumrah] got hurt. He probably ended up having to bowl a bit more in that series with Shami not being there.
“So look, if Shami’s fit, that’s a positive.”
