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With the International Cricket Council (ICC) setting February 12 as the deadline date for all eight teams to submit their final squads for the upcoming highly-anticipated Champions Trophy 2025, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to confirm the availability of Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on February 11 after he began his rehabilitation.
Earlier on Monday, February 10, several reports added that Bumrah has completed scans and thorough assessment under the supervision of the BCCI medical team. It also confirmed that the 31-year-old will begin physical activity, which involves gym work and some light bowling in the next few hours.
Selectors to take final call on Bumrah’s availability for CT 2025 on February 11: Reports
According to a report published by ESPNCricinfo, the final decision on Bumrah’s availability for the upcoming tournament will be taken on February 11. As per the reports, Bumrah had a scan on his back at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru earlier this month and the medical team will coordinate with the selectors and the team management to decide on his participation.
Earlier, a source close to the developments informed, as quoted by TOI, “Even if there is a 1% chance, the BCCI is likely to wait. They did the same with Hardik Pandya as they waited for close to two weeks before getting Prasidh Krishna as a replacement. Even when Shubman Gill was down with dengue, they didn’t have any thoughts of looking for a replacement. Yes, those two incidents happened during the campaign, but the approach with Bumrah could well be no different. This is just the deadline to submit the squad, and they could approach the Event Technical Committee at a later stage to seek a replacement if he fails to regain fitness."
Speaking of Bumrah’s injury, the Indian seamer was asked to off-load for five weeks after complaining of back spasms during the Sydney Test of the BGT 2024-25. However, he was named in the provisional squad for Champions Trophy 2025, he participation was put in jeopardy after he was ruled out of the England ODI series. If Bumrah fails to regain fitness for the marquee tournament, the selectors might look to add in Harshit Rana or Varun Chakravarthy.
India’s ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja
