In Indian cricket, you rarely get a team selection which is devoid of any surprises. However, for the upcoming Champions Trophy in Pakistan and United Arab Emirates, it was strongly predicted that we won’t be getting much surprises in the squad, as very few ODI games have been played by India post the tragic 2023 ODI World Cup final.
As skipper Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced earlier today (January 18), the squad is largely on the same page.
With India playing all of its games in Dubai and not Pakistan (where most of the tournament is staged), the special focus was on picking spinners who can create trouble for batters on the sluggish UAE surfaces. Naturally, the team combinations are being planned based on that strategy.
Let’s explore that and the other key takeaways from India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy.
Incumbents reign supreme
If you play match the followingMbetween India’s squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy, you’ll find only a few new names: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, and Rishabh Pant.
While Pant was injured during the 2023 World Cup because of his road accident, Axar was replaced right before the tournament by R Ashwin following an injury. Only Arshdeep has been slotted in as a direct replacement for Mohammed Siraj from the World Cup squad.
The main reason is that Indians have played only six ODI games since the final of the 2023 home World Cup and have lost three of those games. The main players were also rested during these games.
The England series, which is beginning soon, will serve as a much-required practice for the Men in Blue as they get ready to win the Champions Trophy after more than a decade.
Gill gets his Prince status back?
Shubman Gill has been selected as India’s vice captain in the squad, and it’s clear that the BCCI and team management view him as a future leader in the team.
Of late the Indian men have had more vice captains than one can probably remember. The main reason has been the absence of key players and injuries.
However, since Gill is given that responsibility despite the presence of Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah in the squad, it’s a testament to what he brings on the table for the Indian team.
Moreover, by making him the vice captain, the selection committee also buried any doubts about his form being a problem. He hasn’t played much white ball cricket since the 2023 World Cup for India, but his numbers are terrific in ODI format where he averages 58 with a strike rate north of 100.
He’s also 25, giving him ample opportunity to learn on the job.
Will fitness concerns ruin India’s plans?
India has three pacers in their ranks for the tournament. Out of the three, Bumrah is recovering from a back issue that he picked during the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) and Mohammed Shami is returning after a prolonged period away from the game due to injury.
Bumrah is not even sure to play the England ODIs as Harshit Rana has been selected as his backup.
With both the key pacers facing suspicions around their fitness status, selectors and the team management seem to have taken a major risk by relying solely on them. Siraj isn’t even selected as a backup, and that brings us to the biggest shock in the squad.
Siraj is axed, so is Samson
While trying to explain Siraj’s absence from the squad, Rohit bluntly said that Siraj isn’t reliable with the old ball and has to depend on the new ball to make an impact.
However, a cursory look at the records of ODI bowling performances between 2022 and 2024 will tell you that Siraj has been the world’s leading wicket taker with 71 wickets at an average of just 22.97!
Rohit also said that the team had space for only three pacers, and Arshdeep’s ability to bowl at the death seems to have worked in his favour.
Meanwhile, Pant was selected as India’s second keeper batter for the tournament over Sanju Samson. Samson, who didn’t play the Vijay Hazare Trophy, had recently scored two T20I centuries in South Africa. They weren’t enough to get him selected for the 50 overs format.
It’s evident that the Indian team and selectors haven’t given up on Pant’s potential in white-ball cricket despite him not doing enough with the bat in the format.
Karun Nair and Varun Chakravarthy miss out
Karun Nair can write a really painful essay on the futility of human efforts because after being once dropped right after scoring a triple century in Test cricket, he’s now not being picked for the Indian side after averaging above 700 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25.
Similarly, Varun Chakravarthy had been a breakout performer for India in T20I cricket last year. However, even that wasn’t enough as Kuldeep Yadav was back in the side.
Both these cases point to one thing - India’s ODI squad is absolutely stacked, and is probably one of the hardest things to crack in the country.
However, all is not lost for Nair as he can still ride this wave of splendid batting form into the Ranji Trophy and try for a selection in the Test batting order, which is more brittle and open to change as of now with the England tour coming up later this year.