Injured Jasprit Bumrah likely to miss initial matches of IPL 2025, but MI may have a reason to rejoice – here's why

Jasprit Bumrah is likely to miss the first few matches of IPL 2025 as he continues to recover from a back injury sustained during the Border Gavaskar Trophy, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo. Reportedly, Bumrah will miss all three Mumbai Indians matches in March and is likely to join the team in early April, subject to receiving the necessary clearance from the BCCI's medical team at the Centre of Excellence in Benglauru.

Notably, the pacer has been sidelined since January after suffering a stress-related back injury during the fifth match of the India-Australia series. Since then, the ace pacer was selected for a limited-overs series against England and the Champions Trophy, both of which he missed due to the injury.

This is not the first time that the pacer has suffered a back injury. He had earlier encountered an injury in a similar spot in March 2023 and some experts have warned about the possible career ending implications of the injury in the same spot.

Shane Bond on Bumrah's career-ending injury:

Former New Zealand pacer Shane Bond had recently warned about the repercussions of overusing Bumrah in an interaction with ESPNcricinfo. He said, “Look, I think Booms will be fine, but it's just that [workload] management [matters]… Looking at the tours and the schedule going forward, where are the opportunities to give him a break, but really where are the danger periods? And often it is that the [transition from] IPL to the Test championship will be a risk.”

“He's too valuable for the next World Cup and stuff. So you'd be looking at five Tests in England, I wouldn't want to be playing him in any more than two in a row. Coming out of the back end of the IPL into a Test match is going to be a huge risk. And so how do they manage that is going to be key.” Bond added.

Notably, Bumrah is among the most valuable players for Mumbai Indians going into IPL 2025. The pacer will be key for MI if they wish to win the IPL trophy for the sixth time.