An injured Bumrah missed the T20 series against England, raising doubts over his return to ICC events.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss India’s T20 international series against England, but his pace bowling partner Mohammad Shami Mohammad Shami) will return after a year’s absence.

Bumrah suffered back spasms during the final match of the Test series against Australia and was not included in the 15-man squad announced by the BCCI on Saturday.

The BCCI is yet to reveal the nature of his injury or when Bumrah will return to action.

While his absence from the five-match bilateral series is unlikely to cause serious concern for India, the T20 champions will be working on his recovery and return ahead of the upcoming International ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and Dubai.

The 31-year-old was India’s leading batsman on the tour of Australia but was forced to withdraw from the Sydney Test. However, the BCCI did not provide a reason for his exclusion from the white-ball squad.

Shami returned to the team after missing over a year with an ankle injury and underwent surgery after the 2023 World Cup 50-over.

The 34-year-old missed all of India’s international matches in 2024 but returned to domestic cricket in October and is closely monitored by the national team’s medical staff.

India missed Shami during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series in Australia.

Along with Shami, spin all-rounder Axar Patel has been appointed as India’s vice-captain for the first time. Suryakumar Yadav leads the team.

All-rounders Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar and pacer Harshit Rana missed the 3-1 win in South Africa in November as they were available for the Australia Test series before returning to the T20 lineup.

Star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant continues to miss India’s T20 schedule. His last appearance was in West Indies’ victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

In Pant’s absence, Sanju Samson has assumed the role of opening batsman and first-choice wicketkeeper, scoring three centuries in seven games against Bangladesh and South Africa last year. Dhruv Jurel is the other goalkeeper to be named in the team.

India will host England in the first T20I on January 22 and the series ends on February 12, followed by a three-match one-day international series before the Champions Trophy next month.

Team India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (goalkeeper).