On Tuesday (February 11), India’s worst fears were confirmed – Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy that gets underway on February 19. Harshit Rana was brought into his place.
India are not the most-affected though. That tag arguably belongs to Australia who will travel to Pakistan with a severely depleted squad.
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Australia
Australia will be without the services of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc in the Champions Trophy. Cummins, Marsh and Hazlewood have been affected by injuries while Starc has pulled out due to personal reasons.
Another absentee will be Marcus Stoinis who announced a shock retirement last week.
With Cummins unavailable, Steve Smith has been named as Australia’s captain. Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Spencer Johnson and Tanveer Sangha have been named as the replacements.
Read | Complete squads of all eight teams
Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Cooper Connolly.
South Africa
The Proteas will miss the services of seamers Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee due to injuries. Coetzee, who picked a left hamstring strain in the SA20, was ruled out before even the provisional squad was announced.
Replacing Nortje in South Africa’s squad is 30-year-old seam bowling all-rounder Corbin Bosch.
South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch. Travelling reserve: Kwena Maphaka
Afghanistan
Afghanistan will make their Champions Trophy debut in Pakistan and have been replaced in the same group as England, Australia and South Africa. They will be without the 18-year-old spin bowling sensation Allah Ghazanfar because of a fracture in the L4 vertebra. He has been sidelined for a minimum of four months. Nangyal Kharoti, who was in the reserve pool, has been promoted to the main squad.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhil, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Farid Malik, Naveed Zadran. Reserves: Darwish Rasooli, Nangyal Kharoti, Bilal Sami
England
Jacob Bethell, 21, a batting all-rounder is out of the eight-team tournament with a hamstring injury that he suffered while playing for England against India in the first ODI in Nagpur. In his place, England have brought in Tom Banton.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
Pakistan
Opening batter Saim Ayub was not included in Pakistan’s squad for the Champions Trophy after he sustained an ankle injury. He picked up the blow while playing in the second Test of the away series against South Africa in Cape Town last month.
Pakistan squad: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.