Jasprit Bumrah likely to miss initial rounds of IPL 2025

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 on the points table in IPL 2024.

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 till he returns.

Hardik will also have to shoulder more bowling responsibilities in the absence of the 30-year-old.

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.

Then the five-time champions will return home for the match 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 at present, Bumrah is unlikely to feature in any of them though he might link up with the squad in the first week of April.