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The Men's Selection Committee Chairman Ajit Agarkar on Saturday opened up on India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's fitness and said that most likely the 31-year-old will not be fit for the first couple of games of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.
Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma held a press conference on Saturday to announce the 15-member squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 and ODI series against England. In the last innings of the fifth Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia at Sydney, the speedster didn't bowl a single ball as he went for scans and was advised by the Australian doctors not to participate in the remainder of the Sydney Test. Following the advice from the medical experts, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided the Indian spearhead should rest for at least five weeks (the Sydney Test finished on January 5) after which he will undergo another scan. Speaking at the press conference, Agarkar said that the team management is still waiting to hear about Bumrah's fitness and when he will be available to be a part of the first eleven. "With Jasprit Bumrah we are waiting to hear about his fitness and when is he likely to be available so Harshit Rana is going to be a part of the ODI squad against England right now...I don't think he is likely to be fit for the first couple of games," Agarkar told reporters. During the squad announcement, Agarkar confirmed that young seamer Harshit Rana will be in place of Bumrah for the ODI series against England. The freshest challenge awaiting for Team India is the ICC Champions Trophy, starting from February 19 till March 9. It will be hosted by Pakistan and UAE, with India playing its matches in UAE under a hybrid model. The eight-team tournament will feature 15 fifty-over matches and will be played across Pakistan and in Dubai. The biggest match of the tournament between two arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be played on February 23. India will start its campaign against Bangladesh on February 20. India's last league match will be against New Zealand on March 2. The Rohit Sharma-led side will play all their matches in Dubai India squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja. (ANI)
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