Champions Trophy 2025: Can Team India win without Jasprit Bumrah? A complete SWOT analysis

Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025, India received a massive blow as Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the tournament due to lower back injury. 

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After winning the T20 World Cup last year, which ended 11-year ICC title drought, Team India has their eyes set on winning the Champions Trophy 2025, adding a prestigious title to their cabinet. 

India are one of the favourites to win the title, given their white-ball dominance over the last several years. Though Pakistan is the original host of the Champions Trophy 2025, but the Men in Blue will play all their fixtures in Dubai as part of a hybrid after the BCCI refused to send India to Pakistan due to security concerns.

Ahead of the tournament, India suffered a massive setback as Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out due to injury. Will Bumrah’s absence affect India’s chances of winning the Champions Trophy? Let’s breakdown into strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to understand India’s chances in the marquee event 

Here are complete SWOT analysis of Team India 

Strength: 

Team India’s biggest strength lies in its batting line-up, with top 4 batters consisting of skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer. These four batters can create a solid foundation for the team, providing stability and aggression at the top. Rohit showed his glimpse of his return to form when he played a brilliant innings of 119 off 90 balls in the second ODI against England. While, Virat Kohli found his rhythm and form in time ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 in the third and final ODI of the series against England in Ahmedabad. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s return to form before the marquee event had sent a positive message to Team India management. 

Shubman Gill was quite impressive with his form in the three-match ODI series, scoring two consecutive fifties in Nagpur and Cuttack and a fine century in Ahmedabad. His consistency and ability to anchor the inning make him a crucial asset for India. Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, could not have asked for a better return to international cricket after over a year than scoring two fifties in three matches against England. The management is likely to back these four batters for top 4, given that they showcased their right blend of experience, form, and adaptability leading up to the Champions Trophy 2025. 

Apart from top four batters, the middle-order of batting line-up looks well balanced, with Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja in good form. With the trio's ability to bat deep and step up in pressure situations, bodes well for India in their quest to put a hefty total on the board in Dubai.

Weaknesses: 

The absence of Jasprit Bumrah is indeed a massive blow for the bowling attack as he has been a pillar of the pace department in crucial ICC tournaments. In the T20 World Cup last year, Bumrah picked 15 wickets and was awarded Player of the Tournament. In the ODI World Cup 2023, the pace spearhead scalped 20 wickets in 11 matches. This itself is evidence how big a Bumrah’s void will create in India’s bowling attack. 

With Bumrah being ruled out of the tournament, the only experienced pacer in the squad is Mohammed Shami, who made his return to international cricket in the T20 leg of the ODI series. Since Shami just returned to Team India after a long hiatus due to an ankle injury, there are still concerns about his fitness. Mohammed Shami is expected to lead the pace attack, given his skill and experience, the lack of a proven pacer like Bumrah might put extra pressure on the bowling unit. 

Another concerning factor for Team India management is KL Rahul’s form. In three ODIs, Rahul failed to deliver as he registered scores of 2, 10, and 40. Though he has been backed constantly by management, especially head coach Gautam Gambhir as first-choice wicketkeeper, there are growing concerns and doubts about his ability to make an impact with the bat.

Opportunities:

With India picking five spinners in the squad, there is an opportunity to capitalized on their spin resources. Since Dubai pitch has traditionally offered a fair balance between pacers and spinners, India can utilize their spin bowling department, consisting of the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy. Chakarvarthy was the latest to be added to the squad by replacing Yashasvi Jasiwal. The Tamil Nadu mystery had an impressive outing in the T20I series against England, scalping 14 wickets in five matches. He also played one match in the ODI series against the same side. 

With India having three seamers and four spinners in the squad, it will give them an opportunity to try different bowling combinations depending on the conditions, enabling them to exploit the pitch and opposition weaknesses. If India are going three spinners, including two spin-bowling all–rounders, and three seamers, including a seam bowling all-rounder, they will have a well-balanced attack that provides control and wicket-taking options, which ensure flexibility in bowling options based on conditions.

Threats

The only threat for Team India over the last several years in ICC tournaments has been succumbing to pressure and getting faltered in knockout matches, with T20 World Cup 2024 being an exception. If we look at the last four 50-over tournaments, including three ODI World Cups (2015, 2019, and 2023) and the 2017 Champions Trophy, the Men in Blue performed well in the group stage/league stage, but struggled to cross the final hurdle. In the ODI World Cup 2023, India entered the final with an unbeaten run but faltered to deliver against Australia.  

The recurring trend of underperforming in high-pressure knockout matches remains a psychological barrier for Team India over the last 10 years. The Men in Blue need to overcome this mental hurdle and take inspiration from their title-winning campaign at the T20 World Cup in order to clinch the Champions Trophy, which they last won in 2013 under the leadership of MS Dhoni.