The Champions Trophy will be starting from February 19 and the medical reports of Jasprit Bumrah submitted by BCCI highlighted that Jasprit Bumrah had completed his rehabilitation but the medical team at NCA could not confirm if he will be able to play in Champions Trophy or not. Harshit Rana was named as the replacement of Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy was also added in place of Yashasvi Jaiswal.

“Bumrah was asked to off-load for five weeks after which his rehabilitation at NCA happened under strength & conditioning trainer Rajnikanth and physio Thulasi,” a top BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

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“The report sent by NCA head Nitin Patel clearly states that while he has completed his rehabilitation and scan reports seemed to be okay, it couldn’t be concluded whether he would be bowling fit by the time the tournament starts. Hence the selectors didn’t take any risk.

“Nitin left the ball in Ajit’s (chief selector Agarkar) court and hence no one would want to stick their necks out and take the risk of putting an unfit player in squad. If medical team doesn’t green-light fully, how can the selection committee take that risk,” the official said.

“The stakes are too high and it would have been a complete embarrassment had Bumrah broken down in a match. The NCA led by Nitin Patel had once burnt their hands in 2022 when they pushed Bumrah for the bilateral series against Australia before the T20 World Cup, and he broke down to be out for one year.

“That was Chetan Sharma’s committee and so Agarkar didn’t want to take a chance.”

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This is not the first ICC event that Bumrah will be missing due to injury. The fast bowler was also sidelined for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia after undergoing back surgery. With Bumrah unavailable the BCCI has named Harshit Rana as his replacement for the Champions Trophy. He debuted in the first ODI against England in Nagpur, where he shared the new ball with Mohammed Shami. Though he conceded 26 runs in one over to Phil Salt, Rana quickly regained his composure and claimed three crucial wickets, playing a pivotal role in India’s victory.

(With PTI Inputs)