Team India and hosts Pakistan are the only two sides yet to announce their squads for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, which will be played from February 19 to March 9. The ICC had set January 12 as the deadline for all eight participating nations to announce their provisional squads for the Champions Trophy. However, the Men in Blue are yet to name their team as they are sweating over the fitness of lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
Bumrah suffered from back spasms during the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney. As per a report in The Indian Express, he has swelling on his back and could thus miss the group stages of the ICC event. As for Kuldeep, he suffered from a groin injury in October and even underwent surgery in Germany. The spinner missed the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Apart from fitness concerns, there are also several tough decisions that the selectors will need to make when they sit to pick Team India's squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Ahead of the team selection, which could reportedly happen on January 19, we take a close look at various reports that are doing the rounds.
Samson could be left out of the Champions Trophy squad
As per a report in news agency PTI, in-form keeper-batter Sanju Samson is unlikely to be picked in India's Champions Trophy squad. The report claimed that KL Rahul, who kept wickets in the 2023 ODI World Cup, will be picked as a specialist batter for the Champions Trophy, while Rishabh Pant will be chosen as the first-choice wicketkeeper.
Dhruv Jurel, Ishan Kishan, and Samson are among the backup options for Pant in one-dayers. Of the three, Jurel is likely to get the nod. Incidentally, Samson missed the Vijay Hazare Trophy due to personal reasons. Ironically, he had scored a hundred against South Africa in his last ODI in Paarl in December 2023.
Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi could be in the running if Kuldeep Yadav fails fitness test
As per another report in PTI, Kuldeep is slated to appear for a fitness test and match simulation soon. Meanwhile, leg-spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi are in contention for a place in the Champions Trophy squad in the wake of the uncertainty around Kuldeep.
Both players have represented India in T20Is. Chakravarthy had 19 wickets in 13 T20Is at an average of 18.05. He had an excellent Vijay Hazare Trophy recently, claiming 18 wickets in six matches for Tamil Nadu, averaging 12.16. On the other hand, Bishnoi picked up 14 scalps in eight matches for Gujarat at an average of 13.71. It could be a close call if it comes to picking one of the two.
No place for Jadeja, Rahul, Pant in Harbhajan's Champions Trophy squad
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh left out all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, batter Rahul and keeper-batter Pant while picking his preferred Team India squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Sharing his thoughts on his YouTube channel, the former cricketer backed Samson over Pant and Axar Patel over Jadeja. Harbhajan also went for Shubman Gill over Rahul due to the pace at which the former scores.
Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Yuzvendra Chahal were some of the other interesting choices in the former off-spinner's preferred squad for the one-day event. The 44-year-old opined that Varma should be picked based on his exploits during the T20I series in South Africa.
Sunil Gavaskar, Irfan Pathan throw their weight behind Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul
Former India cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan recently picked their preferred squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Speaking on Star Sports' show 'Game Plan', the duo picked Jaiswal as Rohit Sharma's opening partner and chose Gill as the backup opener. Both batted for Rahul and Shreyas Iyer to be included in the middle-order.
Gavaskar went for Pant at No. 6, but opined that Samson could not be left out of the squad. He commented:
"No. 4 for me will be Shreyas Iyer. No. 5 will be KL Rahul and No. 6 will be Rishabh Pant. Sanju Samson, with the hundreds he has scored, has to be in the squad because he has scored hundreds for India. How can you ignore somebody who is scoring hundreds for his country?"
All-rounder Jadeja, BGT batting star Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Mohammed Siraj also found a place in Gavaskar and Pathan's Champions Trophy squad.
No place for Samson, Suryakumar Yadav in Aakash Chopra's Champions Trophy squad
Former India batter Aakash Chopra reckons that keeper-batter Samson as well as T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav are likely to be left out of Team India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said:
"Suryakumar Yadav isn't there but Shreyas Iyer is. Since the start of the World Cup, he has scored 620 runs in 15 innings, with two centuries, at a strike rate of 112 and an average of 52. Iyer is on fire," Chopra said.
Chopra also picked Rahul, Pant, Jaiswal, Gill, Jadeja, Axar and Arshdeep Singh in his preferred Team India squad for the ICC event.
Meanwhile, as per a report in PTI, Gautam Gambhir's position as head coach could be evaluated based on the team's performance in the Champions Trophy. During Gambhir's tenure, India has lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka, were whitewashed 3-0 at home in Tests by the Kiwis, and lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia by a 3-1 margin.
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