India, March 24 -- Jasprit Bumrah was a glaring absence in the Mumbai Indians playing XI as they opened their IPL 2025 campaign vs Chennai Super Kings, on Sunday. The India pacer hasn't yet recovered from the stress-related back injury that has kept him out of action since January. He sustained the injury on the second day of the final Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, and was also ruled out from the Champions Trophy campaign. This is also the first time Bumrah has sustained a back injury after his surgery in March 2023.

Meanwhile, when Ajit Agarkar announced India's Champions Trophy squad in January, he revealed Bumrah had been asked by the BCCI medical team to offload for at least five weeks so that he can recover.

Speaking after MI's defe...