Bumrah set to miss early IPL 2025 games, Samson nears full recovery

Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the initial rounds of the IPL 2025 matches for Mumbai Indians as the star pacer is still recovering from the lower back injury that rendered him out of action since January.

Bumrah suffered the injury during the second day of the fifth Test against Australia at Sydney and did not bowl in Australia's second innings where they chased 162 successfully to emerge a six-wicket winner.

Bumrah, who had taken 32 wickets from five matches in that series, has been sidelined ever since, and has also missed India's victorious Champions Trophy campaign.

He was named in India's provisional squad for the ICC showpiece, but could not attain the optimum fitness level in time, as mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy was drafted into the side.

"His recuperation is going well. But at this stage it is better to give him some more time to return to peak fitness, considering India's Test series against England in June," a source close to the development told PTI.

The IPL 2025 is scheduled to end on May 25.

It has also been learned that the physios at the BCCI Centre of Excellence has not set a specific time frame for him to return to action, even though Bumrah has been steadily increasing his workload at nets and match simulations.

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.

Samson, Mayank await clearance  Meanwhile, Sanju Samson has completed his recovery process after undergoing a surgery on his right index finger recently.

The Rajasthan Royals skipper had suffered the injury during the home T20I series against England.

While the Centre of Excellence phyisos have been satisfied with Samson's ability to bat without any struggle, they would want to take a closer look at his comfort levels while wicketkeeping.

If Samson was not allowed to keep wickets then Dhruv Jurel can take up that role during the IPL.

Express pacer Mayank Yadav's last competitive match was for Madhya Pradesh against Kerala in January, where he felt discomfort on his back.

He has been recovering at the NCA ever since along with fellow Lucknow Super Giants pacers Avesh Khan and Mohsin Khan.

Blow to MI  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 last year.

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.