Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the talk of the town ahead of the start of the Champions Trophy 2025. All the teams have announced their preliminary squads and they can make changes till February 13.
Meanwhile, ahead of the India-Pakistan clash in Dubai on February 23, comments from the opposition have been made about the Indian team and their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
Bumrah's fitness has been a concern for a while now. Since getting his scans done on day 2 of the Sydney Test, he has not played any international cricket for India. He did not play the T20Is against England and was not selected for the ODIs as well. Further, as per recent reports, he is all but ruled out of the Champions Trophy. He is currently at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru, where an update on his fitness is awaited after his scans are done.
Aaqib Javed Takes A Dig At Jasprit Bumrah
Seeing this as an opportunity, Pakistan's interim head coach Aaqib Javed said India should be worried about the fitness of their leading fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah ahead of their clash in the upcoming Champions Trophy.
"They should be worried about Bumrah's fitness. When you play in the Champions Trophy, the most beautiful thing about it is you can't take any team lightly. The top eight best teams are playing. If any team has a bowler like Bumrah, it is a plus point. But it is not like we will plan everything around him," Aaqib told reporters on the sidelines of Pakistan's training session at the Ghani Glass ground in Lahore on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, there have been enough talk about selection of a few players in the Pakistan team as well for the Champions Trophy. Faheem Ashraf and Khushdil Shah who are selected in the Pakistan squad for the tournament have not had any performance of note in recent times. However, the interim coach backed their selections.
“It's not right to make changes based on the performances of two matches and therefore it will most likely be the same team for the Champions Trophy. And when you look into it specifically that you have three pool matches against New Zealand, India and Bangladesh, you need top seven batters with four bowling options, including two all-rounders. Both Faheem and Khushdil are better choices to play in the sub-continent conditions as compared to Australia or South Africa" added Aaqib Javed, who's also functioning as the team's chief selector.
Meanwhile, Pakistan will be playing a tri-series at home against New Zealand and South Africa as a build-up to the Champions Trophy 2025.
