The omission of the injured Bumrah from the T20 series against England raises doubts over his return for the ICC event.
Leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is set to miss India’s T20 international series against England, but his bowling partner Mohammad Shami will return after a year’s absence, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed.
Bumrah, who suffered back spasms during the final match of the Test series against Australia, was not included in the 15-man squad named by the BCCI on Saturday.
The BCCI has not revealed the nature of his injury or when Bumrah will return to action.
While his absence from the five-match bilateral series is unlikely to raise serious concerns for India, the T20 champions will be sweating over his recovery and return ahead of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai.
The 31-year-old was the highest wicket-taker during India’s tour of Australia but was forced to leave the Sydney Test midway. However, the BCCI did not provide a reason for its omission from the white-ball team.
Shami returned to the team after more than a year out due to an ankle injury and subsequent surgery after the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
The 34-year-old missed all of India’s international matches in 2024, but returned to domestic cricket in October and has been closely monitored by the national team’s medical staff.
India missed Shami in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series in Australia.
Alongside Shami, all-rounder Axar Patel was named India’s vice-captain for the first time. Suryakumar Yadav leads the team.
All-rounders Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar, along with pacer Harshit Rana, are back in the T20 squad after missing the 3-1 series win in South Africa in November due to their Test commitments in Australia.
Star wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant continued to miss out on India’s T20 plans. He last featured in the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies.
In Pant’s absence, Sanju Samson has been the first-choice opener and keeper, scoring three centuries in seven matches against Bangladesh and South Africa last year. Dhruv Jurel is the other wicketkeeper named in the team.
India will host England in the first T20I on January 22, with the series concluding on February 12, followed by a three-match one-day international series before next month’s Champions Trophy.
Indian team: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar , Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper).
