India's 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev finds the tight schedule behind the growing injury concerns within the Indian cricket team ahead of Champions Trophy 2025. The legendary all-rounder has attributed the increasing number of injuries among Indian players to the demanding nature of the modern cricketing schedule. The most recent example of this trend is Jasprit Bumrah, whose injury has forced him to withdraw from India's Champions Trophy squad which came as a big setback for Team India.
India was already grappling with Mohammed Shami's injury for the last one year and now Jasprit Bumrah's absence in Champions Trophy has only added to their injury woes. Shami is back in the squad after a long injury halt but Bumrah became the latest prey to injury.
Shami, who was India's leading wicket-taker in the 2023 ODI World Cup with an impressive 24 scalps, sustained a leg injury after the final and required surgery, keeping him out of action for 14 months. His absence was keenly felt during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where India suffered a 3-1 series defeat. Without Shami in the lineup, Jasprit Bumrah lacked a reliable bowling partner.
Kapil Dev's strong words on India's injury concerns and Jasprit Bumrah's absence in Champions Trophy
Now former India captain Kapil Dev has highlighted Team India's growing injury concerns. He said that the only things that worries him is that Indian players play for 10 months a year, which has made the injuries more common.
"The only thing that worries me is that they play for 10 months a year, injuries will be much more common," Kapil said at the Tata Steel Golf prize distribution ceremony, as quoted by PTI.
On Bumrah's absence, Kapil said it's team game and the team has to win not individuals.
"Why talk about someone who is not in the team? It’s a team game, and the team has to win, not individuals. This is not badminton, tennis, or golf; we are playing a team sport in the Champions Trophy. If we play as a team, we will definitely win," he further added.
In the end, Kapil wished Rohit Sharma's brigade good luck for the Champions Trophy which is set to start from February 19
“You never want your main players to get injured, but if it happens, you can’t do anything about it. Good luck to my Indian team — go and play well,” he concluded.
India’s updated Champions Trophy squad:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non Travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube.