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Jasprit Bumrah sent down over 150 overs across the five Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and ended the tour with back spasms.
Jasprit Bumrah (left) also led India twice during the tour in the absence of Rohit Sharma. (AP Photo)
Ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy, the Indian team management is sweating over the fitness of their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah who sustained back spasms during the fifth and final Test of the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The severity of the injury isn’t yet known and in the worst-case scenario, Bumrah may end up missing the marquee tournament.
Given how dependent the India have become on Bumrah, a fact that was painfully highlighted during the five-match Test series against Australia, his absence could be a major blow to the team’s hopes of winning Champions Trophy scheduled to get underway from February 19.
Bumrah was the leading wicket-taker with 32 scalps from 9 innings during which he sent down more than 150 overs. He didn’t bowl during the second innings of the Sydney Test as Australia won by six wickets to win the series 3-1.
India bowling legend Harbhajan Singh has lashed out at the team management for their overdependency on Bumrah which eventually led to the injury setback.
“He was used like you squeezed juice from sugarcane. It was like ‘Travis Head has come, give the ball to Bumrah, Marnus has come, give the ball to Bumrah, Steve Smith has come, give the ball to Bumrah’,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
“How many overs will Bumrah bowl? He has been reduced to such a condition that he was not available at the end. If he was there, Australia may have won the fifth Test but they would have lost eight wickets, it would have been tough for them. You broke his back and the management should have decided on how many overs he should be given,” he added.
Harbhajan also wasn’t happy with India’s playing XI for the fifth Test as they played two spinners on a pitch that was more conducive for pace bowling.
“The team selection was not right. Two spinners were played on a spicy pitch, you saw green patches. It is beyond my understanding that despite playing so much cricket and watching so much cricket you do not understand such a small thing… what to do on such pitch,” he said.
“The gentleman who has gone there and sitting there together if he is not able to understand this thing then I don’t know what he is doing. What is the point of having two spinners on this pitch. Your spinners did bowl very little, you are just making batting line-up longer. It is not right, they are just stuck in their stubbornness. This is not a T20 format, this is Test cricket,” he added.
