Last Updated:
Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on February 11 due to a lower back injury that he suffered while playing in the fifth India-Australia Test at SCG last month.
Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on February 11 due to a lower back injury. (Picture Credit: PTI)
Former Australian men’s cricket team captain Michael Clarke has reserved big praise for star Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. According to Clarke, who led Aussies to the ODI World Cup title in 2015, the 31-year-old cricketer from Ahmedabad is the world’s best bowler in all three formats of the game, and India will miss his presence in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Bumrah was ruled out of the eight-team ICC event, which is set to start on Wednesday (February 19), last week due to a lower back injury. Bumrah, who won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in 2024, was out of action since January 2025.
While analysing India’s squad on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast ahead of the start of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Clarke said, “I think there’s no doubt about it they’ll miss Bumrah. I think he is a huge loss. He’s the best bowler in the world in all three formats, in my opinion. Brilliant new ball, brilliant death, wicket-taker. Any team that has Bumrah, you’re a different team without him. So they’ll miss him.”
“But you look through that squad, it is so strong. I think India are the favourites even without Bumrah. I still think they’re the favourites to win the Champions Trophy. I have got them in my top four.”
Clarke, who was part of the Australian team that won the Champions Trophy title in 2006 by getting the better of West Indies in the final played in Mumbai, called Hardik Pandya the X-factor in Team India.
“The one for me that I think they missed through the Australian summer, who is a part of their shorter format, is Hardik Pandya. I think he’s a superstar. I think he’s an x-factor, and I think he will have a huge tournament. So I’m saying India are the favourites, and they’re in my top four.”
Hardik, who missed the second half of ODI World Cup 2023 due to an injury, played a big role in India’s T20 World Cup title win last year. The Indian team management will have high expectations from him in the eight-team ICC tournament where the Men in Blue are set to open their campaign on Thursday, February 20, against Bangladesh in Dubai.
