Ajit Agarkar's decision on Jasprit Bumrah's Champions Trophy future after emergency meeting with Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir: Report

A senior BCCI official informed PTI that the National Cricket Academy has deferred the decision on Jasprit Bumrah to the selection committee. While no medical concerns were reported, the NCA highlighted that Bumrah's workload had not been assessed.

The ball was on Agarkar's court. The former India pacer has been by far the most influential chief selector in recent times. He reportedly called for an emergency meeting with captain Rohit and coach Gambhir. The three got together as soon as Team India landed in Ahmedabad for the third and final ODI against England to decide Bumrah's fate.

"During a meeting between the chairman of selector Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma in Ahmedabad, it was deliberated whether they would take an unfit Bumrah to the Champions Trophy or go for the inexperienced Harshit Rana," PTI wrote in its report.

They decided to go with Rana, who recently made his debut against England and impressed with his pace, bounce and variation.

"The stakes are too high and it would have been a complete embarrassment had Bumrah broken down in a match. The NCA led by Nitin Patel had once burnt their hands in 2022 when they pushed Bumrah for the bilateral series against Australia before the T20 World Cup and he had broken down to be out for one year.

"That was Chetan Sharma's committee and so Agarkar didn't want to take a chance."

It is understood that the main bone of contention was that Bumrah is yet to start bowling full tilt and those in the know of things said that it is very difficult to get match-fit in such a short time.

Agarkar, Gambhir, and Rohit thought it was better to travel with a fully fit fast bowler than having to worry about a half-cooked Bumrah. They didn't want another Hardik Pandya-like situation of the 2023 ODI World Cup, where the team was stuck with one combination because of the all-rounder's injury. Besides, India can ill afford a long-term injury to Bumrah, who is the frontrunner to take over as Idnia's Test captain from Rohit Sharma.

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