The injury was first defined as a ‘back sperm’ and the pacer even left for the hospital for scans during the second day of the Sydney Test. According to latest reports, Bumrah is set to miss the entire white-ball series against England which is set to commence from January 22 and will include 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs.

However, this is not all as Bumrah’s participation in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy also seems to be in danger. The Indian team has seen Bumrah previously miss many important tournaments and thus won’t be in favour of letting it happen again.

According to a report by RevSportz, Bumrah is expected to make it to India’s Champions Trophy squad despite his injury issues, however his participation in the tournament will remain conditional.

The team management will require clearance from medical staff at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in order to select Bumrah for the Champions Trophy which is set to commence from February 19.

“A little frustrating (on injury) but sometimes you have to respect your body, and you can’t fight your body. Sometimes, you have to accept. Would have loved to bowl on the spiciest wicket of the series. Just had a little discomfort after the first innings,” Bumrah had said after the conclusion of Sydney Test.

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Since the final starts early on Saturday in Barbados, the Indian team management decided to give the players adequate rest instead of indulging in a training session.

“India have cancelled their training session,” said the ICC.

In another first, India held two press conferences back-to-back in Guyana. The first one was the post-match press conference for India’s 68-run win against England in the semi-final. This was addressed by the man-of-the-match, Axar Patel. The next was a pre-match media interaction for the final, attended by head coach Rahul Dravid.

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However, former England captain, Michael Vaughan tried to spoil the party and triggered a conspiracy theory, suggesting Guyana was an excellent ground for the Indian team, hence the result. But, former Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh was in no mood to sit back and digest Vaughan’s verdict.

Vaughan had posted on X that, “If England had beaten SA they would have got the Trinidad semi and I believe they would have won that game .. So no complaints they haven’t been good enough .. But Guyana has been a lovely venue pick for India,” 

In reply, Harbhajan gave a fiery reply saying that, “What makes u think Guyana was a good venue for India ? Both Teams played on the same venue . England won the toss that was an advantage . Stop being silly . England was outplayed by India in all departments. Accept the fact and Move on and keep ur rubbish with urself. Talk logic not Nonsense.”

In his concluding post, Vaughan did admit that India was the better side on the day.

“India throughly deserve to be in the final .. The best team in tournament so far .. Was always going to hard for England on this pitch .. India just so much better on lower slower spinning pitches,” Vaughan said in another post.

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The Rohit-Kohli opening partnership yet again failed to deliver as Virat Kohli continued his dismal form in the T20 World Cup after getting dismissed by Reece Topley in the third over.

Then, Rohit Sharma started hitting powerful shots and looked set to smash another big score. However, rain interrupted the play and all players headed back to the dugout.

Soon the covers were taken away and the play resumed, however India ended up losing Rishabh Pant in the sixth over with the score at 40/2. Next came Suryakumar Yadav who formed a great partnership with Rohit to steady the Indian innings. The Indian captain scored his third fifty of the tournament smashing 2 boundaries and 6 sixes as India crossed the 100-run mark.

The experienced Adil Rashid took Rohit’s wicket in the 14th over to dismiss him at 55 breaking the 73 run partnership between him and Surya. Jofra Archer dismissed Surya on 47 in the 16th over to put India in a spot of bother at 124/4 after 15.4 overs.

Cameos from the likes of Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel took India to 171/7 after 20 overs. This is quite a good score considering the fact that the pitch is quite slow and is providing a lot of help to the spin bowlers. Indian spinners, Jadeja, Axar and Kuldeep Yadav will all have a big role to play when India comes out to bowl.

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Kohli looked to be in good touch as he even smashed Topley for a massive six, however he was yet again unable to convert his score into a big one and was dismissed just 2 balls later.

Kohli has only been able to score 75 runs in India’s 7 matches in the tournament so far. If India does end up reaching the final, then Kohli will look to end his dismal tournament on a high note.

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An inexperienced India batting lineup faced off against an inexperienced England spinner lineup, and the former won with an outstanding performance on home soil. During the Indian tour, two English bowlers, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, made their debuts for their country.

Boycott discussed England’s bowling lineup and stated that he did not find it shocking that Ben Stokes and his team lost a crushing defeat in the five-match Test Series.

“It wouldn’t frighten anyone: two raw kids in Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir with little first-class bowling as spinners, an ineffectual fast bowler in Mark Wood who just bangs the ball into the track with little movement, a great seamer in Anderson who was used sparingly because he is at the end of his career and an all-rounder Ben Stokes who was unfit to bowl until a bit in the last Test. No wonder it was 4-1,” Boycott wrote in his column for the Telegraph.

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Indian bowlers dominated the list of the top five wicket-takers, with only one bowler from England making the list. With 22 wickets in 5 matches, Hartley was England’s leading wicket-taker.

Boycott went on to say that England was fortunate that KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were missing out the series, as their weak bowling lineup would not have sustained even this much infornt of these two cricketing stalwarts.

“Inexperienced kids were never going to outbowl experienced Indian spinners in India. If anyone thought that then it was daft, wishful thinking. England were lucky that Virat Kohli was unavailable for all the series and KL Rahul only played one Test,” he added.

After losing the series, England has now slided down to eighth position  in the World Test Championship points table.

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Rohit amassed 400 runs at an average of 44.44 and a strike rate of 64.21 in 5 games versus England. In the Rajkot Test, when he struck 131 in the first innings, Rohit put up his greatest performance of the series.

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“It has been a pleasure watching him bat since I saw him as an 18-year-old. It is always pleasing to the eye. But I think he has added a lot of steel and grit to that. Sometimes, we forget that a little bit. Look at his numbers. He was shy enough not to mention the critical situation where he won the toss in Rajkot, and we were 3 down in the first hour. You need somebody to step up and get a hundred, and the captain does that for you,” Dravid said in a chat on JioCinema.

In addition to providing India with runs at crucial moments, Rohit led his team brilliantly as India defeated England 4-1 in the series.

“He has been terrific to watch; it is not easy to start as a middle-order player and then open. To do that consistently when we needed it, especially in the last three games, is a credit to him in spite of other things happening around him,” Dravid further said.

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At the scenic Dharamsala, spin specialist Ashwin delivered figures of 5-77 to ensure that England crumbled for 195 in the second innings of the 5th Test. England began its innings 259 runs down and before lunchtime had lost five wickets for 103 runs. The visitors lost the fourth Test by a significant margin after failing to overcome India’s formidable 477-run first innings score.

In the first innings of the one-sided match, Kuldeep Yadav highlighted the Bazballers’ batting vulnerability against spin, while Ashwin scored a fifer in England’s second essay. Regarding the five-match Test series, Manjrekar praised spinner Kuldeep for his quick progress in the longest format in a conversation with ESPNCricinfo.

“The big takeaway for me looking at Indian cricket in the long-term point of view is India’s bowling. The arrival of Kuldeep Yadav, and Akash Deep in that last Test match. Now, when you look at the England batting failure and relentless pressure, when you have five bowlers of the likes of Bumrah, Akash Deep in the last Test, Siraj here, and then three spinners, where Kuldeep Yadav has made such rapid strides, there’s just no getaway for a team that has been struggling with consistent form,” Manjrekar said.

“For me, it is still about these batters, having shown the potential to get big runs at the Test level, very keen to play at the Test level, which is a great sign. Sarfaraz as well, Dhruv Jurel, has some great foundation, so that’s an exciting talent out there. But let’s wait a little longer. Let these guys play in Australia, England and other places, and then we’ll see who are the long-term batters that India will rely on who will take the baton from the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Cheteshwar Pujara,” Manjrekar added.

The victory over England was Team India’s 17th straight Test series win, extending their stellar record at home. India pulled off the incredible victory without a few of its more experienced players. KL Rahul’s services were lost to India, and Mohammed Shami and batting great Virat Kohli were sidelined for the duration of the Test series. India put its bench strength to the test at home against England over the whole series. During the five-match series, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, and Rajat Patidar all made their Test debuts.

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The match witnessed a stellar performance from India’s bowlers, particularly Ravichandran Ashwin, who wreaked havoc on the England batting lineup. After James Anderson and Shoaib Bashir dismissed India’s final two wickets early on the third morning, Ashwin spearheaded the attack, claiming five wickets to dismantle England’s top order. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah also made crucial contributions, ensuring England’s collapse for a mere 195 runs.

India’s ascent to the pinnacle of the World Test Championship standings had already been solidified before the match commenced, courtesy of Australia’s victory over New Zealand in the first Test of their series. With their latest triumph, India fortified their position with an impressive percentage of 68.15, having secured six wins out of nine matches in the championship cycle.

Despite India’s remarkable consistency, the ongoing battle between New Zealand and Australia poses a potential threat to their supremacy. New Zealand, currently placed second in the table with a percentage of 60, have the opportunity to level the series and maintain their position if they secure victory in the ongoing second Test. Meanwhile, Australia, standing third with a percentage of 59.09, could ascend to second place only if they achieve a comprehensive whitewash over the hosts.

As the contest between New Zealand and Australia unfolds, India’s eyes will undoubtedly be on the outcome, recognizing the potential implications for their standing in the World Test Championship. Currently, New Zealand holds a slender lead of 40 runs in their second innings with two wickets down on Day 2 of the Test match, setting the stage for a gripping conclusion to the series.

The post India Firmly at the Top of WTC Table After Dominating England, but Will Outcome of NZ vs AUS 2nd Test Affect Their Position? appeared first on Cricket Country.

“We have been outplayed by the better team of the series. We got so much cricket coming up, so looking forward to it. When you look at the series as a whole, in those small moments we haven’t been able to keep it going. We all know as individuals as to where it all went wrong. When India get on top with the ball, a lot men come around the bat and you got to find ways to keep those guys out of play and you need to be positive enough to take those risks and sometimes it could lead to downfall,” Stokes said at the post-match presentation.

“Crawley and Duckett continuing their partnership at the top and Bashir and Hartley have been really exceptional the whole series and Root coming into form at the backend is really exciting ahead of our summer. Amazing to be on the field with Jimmy. Seven hundred wickets for a seamer is quite phenomenal, from the day he first started being a cricketer to where he is now, the desire and commitment is still there and he if the fittest cricketer I have ever seen,” the all-rounder added.

England won the toss and were bundled out for 218 in their first innings in the fifth Test. Kuldeep Yadav (5/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) topped the bowling charts for India.

India scored 477 runs in the first innings. England had a deficit of 259 runs as they began their second inning. Though Joe Root (84 in 128 balls, with 12 fours) attempted to fight it out for England, he got very little support from the other end.

Jonny Bairstow (39 in 31 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Tom Hartley (20 in 24 balls, with four boundaries) contributed respectable scores, but nothing could help Root avert a disaster as England were bundled out for 195. England lost the series 4-1.

Ashwin (5/77) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja got one.

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