India’s prospects at the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy got a major jolt with pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of the tournament on Tuesday. Bumrah has a lower back injury suffered during the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney last month and has been out of action since. The national selectors have included pacer Harshit Rana as his replacement in the 15-member squad.
In another selectorial call, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, enjoying a purple patch in white-ball cricket, has been included at the expense of opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal. The left-hander is one of the non-travelling substitutes, along with pacer Mohammed Siraj and all-rounder Shivam Dube. Shreyas Iyer, who played the first ODI against England only because Virat Kohli was injured and Jaiswal had to be tried at the top of the order, now finds himself in the 15 with the opener omitted.
The Champions Trophy begins on February 19 in Pakistan, but India’s games will be played in Dubai. They will face Bangladesh on February 20, Pakistan on February 23 and New Zealand on March 3.