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Mumbai Indians’ star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the initial rounds of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as he is still recovering from the lower back injury that has kept him out of action since January.
Bumrah suffered the injury during the second day of the fifth Test against Australia at Sydney and did not bowl in Australia’s second innings where they chased down 162 successfully to emerge victorious.
Bumrah, who had taken 32 wickets from five matches in that series, has been sidelined ever since, and has also missed India’s successful Champions Trophy campaign. He was named in India’s provisional squad for the ICC showpiece, but could not attain the optimum fitness level in time.
“His recuperation is going well. But at this stage it is better to give him some more time to return to peak fitness, considering India’s Test series against England in June,” a source close to the development told PTI. The IPL 2025 is scheduled to end on May 25.
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No time frame for return yet
It has also been learnt that the physios at the BCCI Centre of Excellence have not set a specific time frame for him to return to action, even though Bumrah has been steadily increasing his workload at nets and match simulations.
Earlier, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that Bumrah had been advised five weeks of complete ‘off-loading’ until the last week of January to reduce the stress on his injured back.
It was a mandatory step because Bumrah had suffered a similar injury in 2023, and had undergone surgery in March that year, which cost him considerable match time. The possible unavailability of Bumrah is a huge blow to Mumbai Indians in their quest to regain the IPL title after finishing 10th in the points table in IPL 2024.
MI need others to deliver
In Burmah’s absence the Hardik Pandya-led side will have to rely massively on pacers Trent Boult, Corbin Bosch and Deepak Chahar to deliver the goods. Hardik will also have to shoulder more bowling responsibilities in the absence of the 30-year-old.
While swing bowlers Boult and Chahar may be able to make up for Bumrah’s absence in the powerplay, it’ll be interesting to see whom the MI think-tank opt to use at the death, in order to fill the Bumrah-shaped void.
The news is also a dampener for MI fans who were itching to watch the Bumrah-Boult duo re-unite after the NZ pacer was brought back at the auction having spent the last three seasons at Rajasthan Royals.
The Mumbai outfit will begin their campaign against Chennai Super Kings on March 23 at Chennai before travelling to Ahmedabad to face Gujarat Titans on March 29. The five-time champions will then return home for a clash against Kolkata Knight Riders on March 31.
They will take on Lucknow Super Giants on April 4 and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 7, and as things stand, Bumrah is unlikely to feature in any of those games.
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