 "Ashwin questions the Indian management's selection strategy for the Champions Trophy. Image: PTI/X")
India’s squad selection for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 has sparked debate. Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has joined the discussion, expressing his concerns over team composition. Ashwin questioned the logic behind India selecting five spinners for the tournament while leaving out a key player like Yashasvi Jaiswal.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had named Jaiswal in the provisional squad for the Champions Trophy but dropped him from the final squad to make room for mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Jaiswal has now been moved to the non-travelling substitutes’ list along with Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube.
Ashwin feels too many spinners in India’s squad
On his YouTube show Ash ki Baat, Ashwin admitted he was shocked by the number of spinners in India’s squad for a tournament in Dubai, where recent conditions haven’t favoured spin much. Ashwin cited the example of the ILT20 tournament to make his point.
“What I don’t understand is the number of spinners we are taking to Dubai. Five spinners, and we have made Yashasvi Jaiswal sit out. Yeah, I understand taking three or four spinners for a tour. But five in Dubai? I don’t know. I think we are one spinner too many, if not two,” Ashwin said.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that Kuldeep Yadav will walk into the team. So how will you make space for Varun? Is he bowling well? Of course. Either you bring in Varun and Kuldeep as a duo, which I feel would be good. But my question is, in Dubai, are you expecting the ball to turn? In the recently held ILT20, we saw that the ball was not turning that much in Dubai and teams were chasing 180-run totals with ease. I feel a bit uncomfortable with this team,” he added.
Ashwin said that the exclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal has baffled him. The young opener was seen carrying drinks during a recent ODI series against England, leading many to assume he would be part of the Champions Trophy squad. However, he was left out of the final squad.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“I am honestly glad that I am not in a position of explaining things to Yashasvi Jaiswal. If I was the coach or captain, what would I even tell him? I raise this question many times - what message are you sending to a player? Yashasvi was bringing water for the players. I was thinking, what would be going on in his mind? He would have been happy that he would be in the Champions Trophy team. And now suddenly he is not in the team. It’s the same for anybody who misses out,” Ashwin stated.
Jaiswal made his ODI debut in the first match of the three-game series against England in Cuttack. However, the Mumbai batter was dropped from the playing XI for the second match to make way for Virat Kohli, who had missed out on the opening game due to a problem in his right knee.
Meanwhile, Harshit Rana has replaced an injured Jasprit Bumrah in India’s Champions Trophy squad. India are scheduled to play their opening game of the tournament against Bangladesh on 20 February.
India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.