He missed the Champions Trophy 2025 due to a back injury.
The legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has applauded captain Rohit Sharma and Co. for winning their third Champions Trophy title in Dubai. Gavaskar made a bold statement in his The Mid-day column by saying that no one is “indispensable” in the game of cricket, hinting at Jasprit Bumrah. He explained how India has been able to win the Champions Trophy 2025 without the star pacer.
“The triumph in the Champions Trophy and that too without Bumrah, also emphasises that nobody is indispensable in this game. In the past too, India has won without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but there’s not the slightest doubt that their presence in the team gives the team an even more invincible look”, said the ex-Indian batter.
The former Indian captain acknowledged the team’s effort to bounce back rapidly after a horrible show on Australian soil. The red-ball squad has been struggling for a while. India lost the Border-Gavaskar (BGT) series 3-1 against Australia following their first-ever whitewash in a three-match series at home in November. The team also failed to make it to the finals of the World Test Championships (WTC) for the first time, after becoming the runners-up in 2021 and 2023.
However, India made a brilliant comeback in the T20I and ODI home series against England. They registered convincing victories with 4-1 and 3-0 dominance.
“For the Indian team to bounce back the way they did with comprehensive wins in the ODI and T20 series against England that were played on the team’s return to India tells volumes of the talent that Indian cricket has. India’s win in the Champions Trophy was one sweet win, especially after the disappointing Test series loss to Australia a month or so earlier. For a team that had won the first Test of the series in such style to cave in and lose three out of the next four Test matches was not really a proper indication of the strength of the team”, wrote Gavaskar.
The former batter also praised the Indian team for their exceptional bench strength. Bumrah’s back injury during the final test of the Australia series, which ruled him out of India’s Champions Trophy squad, made all the fans worried about the side’s performance without their main pacer.
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Although, the team didn’t face any hiccups on their way towards glory as all the players including newcomers Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy took up their chances to shine on one of the biggest stages.
“Very seldom has a team depended on one individual like the Indians depended on Jasprit Bumrah in Australia and his absence from the bowling attack to defend the small target set by India tilted the scales Australia’s way and they won the final Test and with it the series”, stated the former batter.
Furthermore, The legend took a dig at those, who criticised India’s CT win as they only played in one stadium in Dubai. He stated that it feels “good to see” many other players also supporting India’s calibre. They are realising that India would have been the champions irrespective of the venue.
“It is good to see so many overseas cricketers now coming up and saying India would have won anyway wherever they played and not only because they were stationed in Dubai”, he stressed.
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