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As India are heading for the Champions Trophy 2025, they will miss the services of their best bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the upcoming tournament. The fast bowler suffered a back injury during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy down under and has been declared unfit for the upcoming Champions Trophy. In Bumrah’s absence, India’s bowling lineup for Champions Trophy doesn’t look that strong with the likes of Mohammed Shami, who is making a comeback after 15 months, inexperienced Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh who doesn’t play much ODI cricket.
However, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir feels that Jasprit Bumrah’s absence will be an opportunity for other bowlers to grab the opportunity and help India to win the Champions Trophy. “If he’s (Bumrah) injured, he’s injured, whether it’s me, whether it’s the captain, we can’t do much about it,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by News18.
“Obviously, we know that he’s an important factor. But as I mentioned, people like Harshit (Rana), Arshdeep (Singh), Mohammed Shami, all these guys will put their hand up. It’s a great opportunity for them to try and deliver for the country," Indian head coach further said.
Always good to have a world-class bowler back: Gautam Gambhir on Mohammed Shami
Although India will miss the services of Jasprit Bumrah in the Champions Trophy 2025, they have got their another star pace Mohammed Shami back for the upcoming tournament. Shami had a memorable campaign in the 2023 ODI World Cup finishing as a leading wicket taker in the tournament with 24 wickets in seven matches. Now, he is back in the squad right before the Champions Trophy after recovering from knee injury. Gautam Gambhir said that Shami;s inclusion will definitely help India in the upcoming ICC event.
“Look, it’s always good to have a world-class bowler back. With his experience, with his quality, we all know what he can do with the ball in his hand," Gambhir said. “Obviously, we were trying to manage his (Shami) workload. That’s the reason why we played him two T20s and two one-dayers. Hopefully, he’s going to be fresh and ready to go in the Champions Trophy.”
