“Gambhir, Agarkar Must Have ‘Tough Chat’ With Bumrah”: Ex-SA Star’s Advice 

Jasprit Bumrah‘s participation in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is still not a guarantee, with India’s pace spearhead still serving his five-week rest tenure as he attempts to recover from a back issue. Bumrah suffered the injury in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. In light of the situation, former South African pacer Vernon Philander has advised that it may be wiser to manage Bumrah’s workload and not make him play all of India’s games, particularly in “less important matches”.

Philander emphasized that the team management, presently headed by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir, may need to have a tough chat with Bumrah on resting him for some games.

“I think it’s more about how the Indian management manages him. They have to manage his workload in between tournaments,” Philander said in a media interaction during the SA20 tournament.

“I would say, you perhaps want to look at playing him in all the main features, and give other bowlers an opportunity in less important matches,” he added.

Bumrah will be absent from India’s squad for the three-match ODI series against England, with Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana chosen as the pacers.

Philander also stretched his focus to the Indian Premier League (IPL) and how Bumrah can be made available for such a tournament.

“With IPL coming up, you want a player like him to be available for most games but how do you manage him throughout the IPL season?”

“It’s such a tough chat to have, because as a bowler, you want to go out there, you know, there’s records to be broken, so you want to keep playing,” Philander said, on the topic of asking Bumrah to be rested.

India kickstart their Champions Trophy campaign on February 20, in less than two weeks’ time.