The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to delay the announcement of their one-day international squad for their upcoming three-match 50-over series against England at home. The initial reports claimed that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee would reveal the provisional squad of the upcoming Champions Trophy by January 12, according to the guidelines of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
But India is likely to request an extension for the squad declaration. The T20 squad for the upcoming five-match series against England could be announced within the next couple of days. Generally, ahead of any global event, the ICC needs the participating teams to submit their provisional squad at least one month before the beginning of the competition, with the chance being given to make changes later.
This time, the ICC requested the squads five weeks before the opening day of the global tournament, February 19, when New Zealand and Pakistan take on each other at the National Stadium in Karachi. But, the BCCI is likely to use the recent commitment of the concluded five-match Test series against Australia down under in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 to ask for some extra time.
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The provisional squad for the Champions Trophy of India is likely to feature players from the three home ODIs against England, which is now predicted to be announced a week later, around January 18-19, nearly a month before they face Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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The 20-over squad of India is expected to be announced over the next couple of days and will not carry any surprises. It will mostly feature the players who played South Africa away and Bangladesh at home and earned the series victory on both occasions. There is no chance for either their premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, or Mohammad Siraj to be included, as both of them are given a break, with the former recovering from his back injury at the Centre of Excellence (formerly known as National Cricket Academy).
The left-arm seamer, Arshdeep Singh, is going to be the leader of the bowling attack in the shortest format, with a possibility of the Punjab pacer being included in the ODI squad. He has collected 12 ODI wickets so far in eight games at an average of 24.08 and a strike rate of 28.5. In the six List A contests of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2024-25, the fast bowler has picked up 17 scalps.
The major development in the squad of India is the anticipation around the comeback of Mohammad Shami, whose part in the T20I squad, however, is uncertain. It has been known that the Bengal pacer has already got the clearance from the Sports Science wing of the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru or is expected to get it. The right-arm fast bowler also played the VHT 2024-25, while his last game for India came during the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad.
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Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has already grabbed a little attention with his Test century at the MCG, is unlikely to be included in the ODI squad but remains in full contention for the T20I format. Washington Sundar could take part of the off-spinner’s spot, while talks have also been going on for the position of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has enjoyed 1511 List A runs in 32 innings at an average of 53.96, shouldering on five centuries.
India will start the T20I series on January 22 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, while the ODI series will begin on February 06 in Nagpur.