The ICC Champions Trophy is back after an eight-year hiatus. The hosts, Pakistan, are also the defending champions from 2017.
The ICC Champions Trophy is a premier multi-nation event that all top players look forward to. Unfortunately, injuries can act as a dampener and make them miss the marquee event.
Here, we take a look at some of the big names missing out from the tournament.
Patrick Cummins (Australia)
Australia pacer and captain Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy with an ankle injury. He is not just part of their premier pace attack alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, he is also a great leader who has led the side many ICC triumphs and can make vital contributions with the bat.
Cummins has played 90 ODIs and has a bowling average of 28.78 with 143 wickets. He is also a confident batter with the ability to hit big sixes. His replacement will be named by Cricket Australia in the coming days, with Steve Smith set to captain the side in his absence.
Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
The Aussies have another major absentee in another pacer, Josh Hazlewood, which has further depleted their bowling attack.
Hazlewood has been suffering from a calf strain since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and hasn’t recovered. He is a crucial first-change bowler who has the ability to come in and take wickets at tricky moments. The lanky pacer can also be a handy batter lower down the order and contribute with a vital cameo or two.
With 138 wickets in 91 ODIs, Hazlewood will be another major miss.
Mitchell Starc (Australia)
Mitchell Starc, too, has pulled out of the Champions Trophy, citing personal reasons, leaving the Aussies with an inexperienced pace attack for the trip to Pakistan. This could have serious repercussions for them in their quest for the Champions Trophy.
Starc has been Australia’s leading pacer in all formats for more than a decade, having taken 244 wickets in 127 ODIs. His pace and swing at the start of the innings are vital to Australia taking wickets in the Powerplay and putting the opposition on the back foot from the get-go.
Whoever comes in as Starc’s replacement will have mighty shoes to fill. With all three of their main pacers missing, Australia’s chances of winning the Champions Trophy are already looking bleak.
Mitchell Marsh (Australia)
Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will also not be playing in the Champions Trophy due to a back injury. Though he was out of form in the recently-concluded BGT series, the limited-overs formats are where he truly excels.
He is a top-order batter and a more-than-useful fast bowler. He has a healthy batting average of 35.8 in ODIs and is a powerful hitter who looks to dominate the bowler and can clear boundaries with ease. As for his bowling, he has taken 57 wickets in 93 matches and has a knack of picking big wickets.
Jasprit Bumrah (India)
India’s match-winning fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has also been ruled out of the Champions Trophy. It’s a massive blow for the Men in Blue, as Bumrah’s importance to this team cannot be overstated. He is arguably the best bowler in the world right now, and his absence could turn out to be the difference between winning the trophy and losing it for India.
Bumrah has taken 149 wickets in 89 ODIs with an economy of 4.59. He is a vital cog in the wheel for Rohit Sharma and can turn the game around at any moment of time. Harshit Rana has been selected as his replacement.
Saim Ayub (Pakistan)
The Pakistan top-order batter is going to miss the Champions Trophy due to a fractured right ankle that could keep him out of the game for more than ten weeks, as confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
The left-handed batter made his ODI debut in November last year and has scored an impressive 515 runs from nine matches at an average of 65.38. Ayub also played a crucial role in Pakistan’s ODI series wins over Australia and South Africa—both away from home.
Even though this is an early phase of his career, Ayub has been one of the best and most assured Pakistan batters of late, so he will be a huge loss for the host nation.
Anrich Nortje (South Africa)
The fiery South African pacer Anrich Nortje has also been ruled out of the Champions Trophy. Cricket South Africa announced last month that he would not be able to recover from a recurring back injury in time for the marquee event. Newcomer Corbin Bosch has been announced as his replacement.
However, Nortje’s experience and threat is unmatched. He is one of the fastest bowlers in the world capable of regularly bowling at 145–150 kmph. Along with his strike partner Kagiso Rabada, Nortje is a lethal bowler to face first up. He has an ODI bowling average of 27.27, with a best figure of 4/51.
Nortje will definitely be a massive loss for the Proteas, who are looking to win their second ICC tournament since winning the inaugural Champions Trophy (then known as the ICC Knockout Trophy) in 1998.
Jacob Bethell (England)
21-year-old English batting all-rounder Jacob Bethell has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to a left hamstring injury suffered during the ongoing bilateral ODI series on the Indian tour. He missed the second ODI in Cuttack, with England captain Jos Buttler confirming after the game that he was unlikely to be fit for the Champions Trophy.
In his fairly new career, Bethell has played nine ODI matches and has accumulated 218 runs with an average of 31.14. He scored a half-century in the first ODI against India and was looking in good touch. A struggling England team that are trailing 2-0 in the series with one more match to play have lost a dependable middle-order batter.
Bethell has been replaced by Somerset batter Tom Banton, who will play in the final ODI against India before going ahead to participate in the Champions Trophy.
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