ESPNcricinfo has learned that Bumrah has had a scan on his back at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru recently. The BCCI’s medical staff will now coordinate with the selectors and the India team management before the decision is taken.
In January, while announcing the provisional squad for the Champions Trophy, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said that based on information provided by the BCCI medical staff at the time, Bumrah was not “likely to be fit for the first couple of games” of the England ODI series. Agarkar had said that Bumrah was “asked to offload for five weeks” from bowling, before undergoing fresh scans on his back in first week of February.
India are in Group A of the Champions Trophy along with Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand and will play all their matches in Dubai after not being given permission to travel to Pakistan – the official host of the tournament – by the Indian government. They begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, before playing Pakistan on February 23 and New Zealand on March 2.
