Bumrah, Kuldeep, Jaiswal to play Champions Trophy
text_fields
Mumbai: Selectors at BCCI included Indian pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah and spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the Indian squad to the Champion’s Trophy, which is to start on February 19. However, Bumrah’s inclusion will be subject to his fitness at the time of the tournament, Ajith Agarkar, the chief selector at BCCI, informed.
Bumrah didn’t bowl in the second innings of the Sydney Test due to back spasms, raising concerns over his match fitness for India’s upcoming two white-ball assignments, IANS reported.
“Bumrah was asked to offload for five weeks, BCCI will put something out from the medical team. Hopefully, he will be okay after the first week of February,” said Agarkar at the press conference, held after a delay of more than two hours at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai.
Rohit's opening partner, Shubman Gill, has been named vice-captain for England ODIs and the eight-team ICC marquee tournament.
For the three ODIs against England, seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana has been included. There’s no place for pacer Mohammed Siraj, though, as India has opted to go with left-arm fast-bowler Arshdeep Singh.
There are also places in the team for young left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who was out of action since October last year due to a hernia surgery.
India will be playing three ODIs against England on February 6, 9 and 12 in Nagpur, Cuttack and Ahmedabad before the Champions Trophy begins on February 19.
India is in Group A and will play their Champions Trophy games in Dubai, as they didn’t get permission from the government to travel to Pakistan. India, the two-time Champions Trophy winners, will begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, after which they play against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 23 before facing New Zealand on March 2.
India squad for England ODI series and Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill (vc), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, and Harshit Rana (England ODIs only).