“Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy due to a lower back injury. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Harshit Rana as Bumrah’s replacement,” the BCCI said in a release late night on Tuesday.

Spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has also secured a place in the squad following his solid performance in the T20I series. Chakaravarthy, who bamboozled England by taking 14 wickets in five T20Is, was rewarded with an ODI call-up in Cuttack, where he picked up 1/54.

“Team India have also named Varun Chakaravarthy in the squad. The spinner will replace Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was initially named in the provisional squad,” the release added. Jaiswal has been relegated to being among the non-travelling substitutes along with Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. “The three players will travel to Dubai as and when required,” the board said.

Huge blow for India even before the start of the Champions Trophy

The development is a major setback for India going into the Champions Trophy, which they have won twice in 2002 and 2013. Bumrah’s performances across formats since returning from his previous lengthy absence from back injury led to him being widely accepted as the best bowler in the world across formats. The 31-year-old was player of the tournament in India’s succesfull 2024 T20 World Cup campaign, taking 15 wickets at a ridiculous average of 8.26.

Bumrah then practically carried the Indian attack throughout the five-match Test series in Australia, which the visitors lost 3-1. While the rest of India’s bowlers left much to be desired, Bumrah’s performance had been rated at various points as one of the greatest individual performances by a player in a Test series in Australia. The 31-year-old finished with 32 wickets in nine innings at an incredible average of 13.06.

India’s reliance on Bumrah resulted in him bowling lengthy spells during the tour. He was even seen wearily asking captain Rohit Sharma not to hand the old ball to him in Melbourne during the fourth Test. The workload finally seemed to have taken a toll during Day 2 of the fifth Test when Bumrah, who was captain for the match with Rohit sitting out, walked off the field in Sydney and was eventually spotted leaving the stadium altogether for scans. He could not bowl in the Indian second innings.

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had said in January, while announcing the squad for the ongoing ODI series against England and the Champions Trophy, that he was hoping that Bumrah gets fit enough to play the last match of the former. “With Bumrah, we are waiting to hear about his fitness and when he’s likely to be available,” Agarkar had said in the press conference in Mumbai with Rohit beside him. “At the moment I don’t think he is likely to be fit for the first couple of games at least from what we gather. We will probably hear more in the next week or so about his fitness.”

Bumrah’s unique action has been a weapon for him. However, it has also regularly put a strain on his back over the course of his career. In September 2019, Bumrah was diagnosed with a “minor stress fracture in his lower back” and was sidelined for about three months. In 2022, he was forced to sit out the Asia Cup in August and September before missing the T20 World Cup that year. On this occassion, he was forced to undergo surgery and a lengthy recovery period followed in which he missed 10 months worth of cricket action before returning as captain in India’s three-match T20I series in Ireland in July 2023.

India’s updated squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy