India sweating on Bumrah’s fitness for Champions Trophy as Shami returns | Cricket News

Bumrah’s injury-hit omission from the T20 series against England raises doubts over his return for the ICC event.
Leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss India’s T20 international series against England, but bowling partner Mohammad Shami will return after a year out of the side, the Board of Control for Cricket has confirmed in India (BCCI).
Bumrah, who suffered from back spasms during the final match of the Test series against Australia, was not included in the 15-man squad named by the BCCI on Saturday.
The BCCI has not revealed the nature of his injury or when Bumrah will be back in action.
While their absence from the five-match bilateral series is unlikely to cause serious concern for India, the T20 champions are sweating on their recovery and return ahead of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai.
The 31-year-old was the highest run-getter on India’s tour of Australia but was forced out of the Sydney Test midway through. However, the BCCI did not provide a reason for his omission from the white-ball squad.
Shami returned to the team after more than a year out with an ankle injury and subsequent surgery after the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
The 34-year-old has missed all of India’s international matches in 2024 but returned to domestic cricket in October and has been monitored by the national team’s medical staff.
India missed Shami in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series in Australia.
Alongside Shami, Axar Patel was named India’s vice-captain for the first time. Suryakumar Yadav leads the team.
All-rounders Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar, as well as pacer Harshit Rana, are back in the T20 squad after missing the 3-1 series win in South Africa in November due to their Test commitments in Australia.
Star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has continued to miss India’s T20 plans. He last featured in West Indies’ 2024 T20 World Cup triumph.
In Pant’s absence, Sanju Samson has been the opening batsman and first-choice wicketkeeper, scoring three centuries in seven matches against Bangladesh and South Africa last year. Dhruv Jurel is the other wicketkeeper named in the team.
India host England in the first T20I on January 22, with the series concluding on February 12, followed by a three-match one-day international series before next month’s Champions Trophy.
Indian Team: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Sanju Samson (goalkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (goalkeeper).
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2025-01-12 07:50:00