The selectors of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are meeting to select the final squad of the blue brigade for their upcoming assignment of the Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to take place in Pakistan from February 22. However, they will play all of their games at the Dubai International Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The out-of-touch veterans, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will continue to be the core of India’s batting department. However, there are at least three senior players whose position in the side will be debated in the future.
The three members, KL Rahul, Mohammad Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja, were one of the vital aspects of the 2023 ODI World Cup at home, where India finished as the runners-up. The Rohit Sharma-led side was involved in three ODIs last year in Sri Lanka, where they lost the series by a 2-0 margin.
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Since the final of the 50-over ICC event, both Jadeja and Shami were rested, while Rahul was included in both the away engagements in Sri Lanka and South Africa. In the Island, the right-handed batter, however, was dropped in the middle order of the series after failing to smash the spinners in the middle overs. The social media always remains the fans of the struggling half-century of the Karnataka batter during the final on November 19 against Australia, eating up more than 100 deliveries.
Axar Patel ahead in India’s selection of Champions Trophy 2025, no clarity on Kuldeep Yadav
It’s reported that the young and sensational left-handed opening batter of the blue brigade, Yashasvi Jaiswal, could earn his maiden call-up to the format. The 23-year-old was the leading run-getter for India in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy with 391 runs at an average of 43.44. In the 32 List-A innings, the aggressive batter has notched up 1511 runs at an average of 53.96 and a strike rate of 86.19, shouldering on five centuries and seven half-centuries.
The left-handed wicket-keeper batter, Ishan Kishan, hasn’t scored a lot of runs in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, while Kerala kept their former captain, Sanju Samson, out of the squad as he missed the initial games.
The selection of the second wicket-keeper batter after Rishabh Pant could boil down to the choice of the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the veteran is expected to lean towards his personal favorite, Samson.
The white-ball batting performance of Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t been satisfactory. In 197 games of the 50-over format, the left-handed batter has smacked 2756 runs at an average of 32.42 and a strike rate of 85.06 with the help of 13 half-centuries. The selection committee is keeping an eye on Axar Patel, who has been part of two List-A games in VHT 2024-25 for four wickets and 18 runs.
Washington Sundar is expected to be the lone off-spinner of the squad, but India sweats for the fitness of left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who is near fit but hasn’t turned up for the 50-over domestic event.
The biggest speculation for the fans of India is around the premier fast bowler, Mohammad Shami, whose fitness status hasn’t got the required clarity yet. The Bengal pacer has bowled eight overs in each of the last two VHT games, and his expertise will be crucial for the team in case Jasprit Bumrah gets ruled out of the competition with a back injury.
Hardik Pandya is the front-runner for the all-rounder option, while Nitish Reddy could get a look in. Among the reserve batters, the toss-up will be between Tilak Verma and Rinku Singh.
India’s Probable Squad For Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy/Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan/Mohammed Shami, Rinku Singh/Tilak Varma.