Gautam Gambhir breaks silence on Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of Champions Trophy 2025

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to give a tentative deadline for lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah's return to international cricket. Reacting to the news of the fast bowler being ruled out of Champions Trophy 2025, he said that the medical staff would be the best people to provide an update on the fast bowler.

Bumrah suffered from back spasms during the final Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Sydney. He didn't bowl at all on the last day of the series, where he picked up 32 wickets. The 32-year-old was named in India's preliminary Champions Trophy squad. On Tuesday, February 11, though, the BCCI confirmed that the fast bowler was ruled out due to a lower back injury.

At a press conference on Wednesday, after India's 3-0 ODI series triumph over England, Gambhir opened up on Bumrah's absence from India's Champions Trophy squad (as quoted by NDTV):

"Obviously, he has been ruled out. But all the details, I can't give you because it's up to the medical team to talk about that how long is he going to be out for and stuff because it's the medical team that decides at NCA."

In another post-match interaction, Gambhir admitted that India will miss the fast bowler but asserted that it's an opportunity for other players to stand up.

"Obviously we wanted him desperately. We know that what he can do, he's a world-class player. But then again, some things are not in your hands. So it's an opportunity for some of the young guys, like Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh, to put their hands up and do something for the country," Gambhir said.

"Sometimes these are the opportunities which you're looking for. And Harshit has been brilliant throughout the series. He's taken some important wickets. We all know what Arshdeep can deliver. So, yes, Bumrah will always be a miss. But having someone like Mohammad Shami back with his experience is always good," the former opener added.

The BCCI selectors named Harshit as Bumrah's replacement in India's final 15-man Champions Trophy 2025 squad. Also, leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy was included in place of young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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"Shreyas was never going to be benched for the full series" - Gautam Gambhir

Shreyas Iyer was one of the standout performers for India in the 3-0 ODI series triumph against England. However, after the first one-dayer in Nagpur, he revealed that he was picked in the playing XI only because Virat Kohli got injured. Shreyas' statement surprised many fans and experts. Gambhir, though, downplayed the debatable tactics and explained:

“Shreyas Iyer is an important player for us. He was not going to be benched for the entire series. Just that we thought we shall give a chance to Jaiswal in the first ODI, as he was in good form. I know just one game wasn’t enough, but we thought we shall give him one chance.

"As for Shreyas, he was never going to be benched for the full series. He is a very important in middle order. Good he ended up playing all three games,” Gambhir concluded.

Shreyas scored 59 off 36 in the first one-dayer in Nagpur. In the remaining two matches, he registered scores of 44 off 47 and 78 off 64, respectively.