Is Jasprit Bumrah being phased out of ODI World Cup 2027 plans?

India’s premier fast bowler has not played an ODI since the 2023 World Cup final, raising serious questions over his place in the 2027 World Cup roadmap

The future of senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the 2027 ODI World Cup has been widely debated. However, another major uncertainty has quietly emerged, the ODI future of India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

Surprisingly, Bumrah’s possible absence from the 2027 World Cup has not attracted the same attention, even though the signs are increasingly hard to ignore. India’s yorker specialist and match-winner has now been missing from the ODI setup for nearly two years, raising serious concerns about whether he is part of the long-term white-ball plan at all.

The latest trigger for the debate was the announcement of India’s squad for the ODI series against New Zealand. While a strong 15-member team was named, Bumrah was left out. The selection committee cited workload management as the reason. However, that explanation has not convinced many, given that Bumrah continues to play Test and T20 cricket regularly.

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Bumrah last played an ODI on November 19, 2023, during the World Cup final against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Since that high-profile match, he has not featured in a single ODI, and the team management has offered no clear roadmap for his return.

In numbers, the absence is stark. Bumrah has now been out of the ODI setup for 773 days. While resting a player for one or two series may be understandable, keeping a frontline bowler away from all major ODI assignments has raised eyebrows.

Over this period, Bumrah has missed several key tournaments and bilateral series, including:

•    The three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in Colombo
•    The home ODI series against England
•    The Champions Trophy in Dubai
•    The ODI series in Australia
•    The recent South Africa ODI series
•    And now, the New Zealand ODI series

These repeated exclusions have fuelled speculation about whether Bumrah is being deliberately sidelined from ODI cricket.

Meanwhile, India’s ODI pace attack has moved on with players like Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana becoming regulars. In addition, medium-pace all-rounders such as Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube and Nitish Reddy have been consistently part of the ODI setup over the last two years.

Also Read:BCCI’s master plan: Pandya and Bumrah rested ahead of T20 World Cup

With the 2027 ODI World Cup less than a year away, India has only a limited number of matches left to finalise its core squad. Experts point out that building a World Cup team without a bowler of Bumrah’s calibre is unusual, especially when he is still regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in world cricket.

This has led to unavoidable questions:

Is Bumrah not fit enough for ODI cricket?
Or has he quietly been left out of India’s World Cup planning altogether?

So far, neither the selectors nor the team management have provided clear answers. As things stand, Bumrah’s prolonged absence has placed his 2027 World Cup participation under serious doubt, making it one of the most puzzling selection stories in Indian cricket today.