MUMBAI, India (AP) — Star pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy because of a lower back injury in a major setback for India's chances at the prestigious tournament.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced late Tuesday that the 31-year-old Bumrah has been replaced by Harshit Rana. Pakistan will host the eight-nation Champions Trophy starting Feb. 19, though India will play its games in Dubai.
Bumrah sustained the injury during the fifth test in Sydney against Australia in India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy series loss last month. He picked up 32 wickets across five tests, but was advised complete rest from bowling.
He was selected in India's squad for the third ODI against England at Ahmedabad on Wednesday, in a bid to ascertain his match fitness, but instead flew to Bengaluru for more tests before being ruled out of the upcoming tournament.
As well as the inclusion of Rana, who made his ODI debut against England in this series, India also drafted spinner Varun Chakravarthy into its 15-man roster for the Champions Trophy and cut Yashasvi Jaiswal from the squad.
Jaiswal, along with pace bowler Mohammed Siraj and batting all-rounder Shivam Dube, will be on standby as traveling reserves for the tournament.
India won the Champions Trophy in 2013 and finished runner-up to Pakistan in 2017, the last time the tournament was staged.
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India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
The Associated Press
