Jasprit Bumrah denied being urged to relax after a back ailment at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Australia. The reports claimed that Bumrah was advised to recuperate at home and avoid pushing his return to competitive cricket, especially before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan next month.
After the pacer’s response, X’s content aggregator deleted the tweet disseminating this news. Bumrah commented, “I know fake news is easy to spread, but this made me laugh. Unreliable sources.”
Recent Indian media sources say Bumrah, who has back swelling, would report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for rehabilitation and recuperation monitoring. His injury concerns delayed India’s Champions Trophy 2025 15-man squad announcement by a week.
The national selectors met in Mumbai on Saturday to finalise the T20I squad against England and were informed of Bumrah’s fitness. Despite the Sunday deadline for Champions Trophy team announcement, the BCCI has requested an extension.
Bumrah will be rehabilitated at the NCA. Initial reports indicate back swelling but no fracture. His rehabilitation will be monitored for three weeks by the NCA. A BCCI insider stated he will need to play a match or two—even practice games—after that to determine his match fitness.
The right-arm bowler took 32 wickets in 151.2 overs in five Test matches in Australia at 13.06 and 28.3. He acted as the stand-in captain for the first Test in Perth, leading the team to a commanding 295-run victory in Rohit Sharma’s absence. He led the team in the final Test in Sydney when Rohit sat out.
The eight-team Champions Trophy tournament, with 15 matches, will be held in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 to March 9. Group A contains Pakistan, India, New Zealand, and Bangladesh; Group B includes Afghanistan, South Africa, England, and Australia.
In Karachi on February 19, hosts Pakistan will play New Zealand in the tournament opener. The much-anticipated Pakistan-India match in Dubai is on February 23.