By Karan Agrawal 
India suffered a major blow before the Champions Trophy when the team’s fast bowling spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah, was ruled out of the multination tournament following a back injury that he picked up during the fifth and final test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy last month and was unable to bowl in Australia’s second innings. After bowling a couple of overs in the early stages of the second day’s play, the fast bowler left the ground and was taken for scans. He did come out to bat for India in the second innings but wasn’t able to make a significant contribution.
The Change
Bumrah’s injury is a major setback for a bowling lineup that lacks experience as two of India’s three experienced fast bowlers, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, who were instrumental in guiding India to the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, will not be a part of the 15 member squad with Mohammed Shami being the only pacer with a significant amount of experience in ODI cricket. Although this will be Shami’s second outing in the Champions Trophy, there are concerns about the fast bowler’s fitness as he is making a comeback in international cricket after 15 months and hasn’t looked effective in the handful of matches he has played so far.
The Opportunity
Former English all-rounder David Lloyd was of the opinion that the Rohit Sharma-led side will miss Bumrah, and that’s something the captain and the team management can’t deny.“You are going to miss him (Bumrah),” Lloyd told TalkSPORT. “You can’t get away from the fact that the best bowler in the world isn’t playing, then you’ve got a problem.” Having said that, the injury to Bumrah provides an opportunity for left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh to make his mark in ODI cricket. Arshdeep, who is an integral part of India’s T20 side, hasn’t got many opportunities in the 50-over format, having played just nine matches since making his debut in 2022.
The Concern
With the Champions Trophy being a platform for Arshdeep to showcase his credentials in ODI, the move of including an inexperienced bowler in the team before an ICC event could backfire, given the fact that other teams might target him if he plays in the final XI and that’s exactly what David Lloyd eluded to. “If you are the opposition, test him out, really get into him.”This is not T20, this not a little party, you’ve got to come back and come back again, and that is something he won’t be used to.“If you are the opposition, you try and play on that, let’s see what he’s got,” said Lloyd.