 "Champions Trophy 2025 squad takeaways: Mohammed Shami's reintegration complete, Karun Nair finds no place and more")
No great surprises, no cute left-field choices. The press conference to announce India’s 15-man squad for next month’s Champions Trophy might have been delayed by nearly two and a half hours – hardly a surprise that too, some might insist – but when chief selector Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma did show up at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday afternoon, there was no ambiguity in the messaging .
India have stuck to the tried and the tested , refusing the press the panic button in the aftermath of both the 0-2 loss to Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series in August and the recent horror run in Test cricket.
Among the biggest takeaways is the general confidence surrounding Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the tournament, where India will play all their matches in Dubai, and the continued faith in Shubman Gill’s potential leadership skills, which has manifested itself in him being named Rohit’s deputy for the second ODI series in succession.
Here’s a look at a few salient gleanings:
The Bumrah conundrum
The pace ace has been advised to stay away from bowling (offloading process) for five weeks after sustaining stress-related back spasms during the Sydney Test. Agarkar was quietly confident that the timeline would allow him to return to action, potentially for the third and final ODI against England in Ahmedabad on February 12. Bumrah is integral to India’s chances after his stellar performances in the home 50-over World Cup in 2023, the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean in 2024 when he was the Player of the Tournament, and in Australia during the five Tests, when his 32 wickets brought him the Player of the Series award despite India’s 1-3 defeat.
Bumrah doesn’t figure in the squad for the England ODIs, with Harshit Rana named in his stead. It is to be presumed that should the Test vice-captain not be deemed 100% ahead of the Champions Trophy, Rana will automatically slot in as his replacement.
Faith in Gill
Gill has had a terrible run in Test cricket outside Asia over the last four years, but he has struck up an excellent opening combine with Rohit in the 50-over format and has therefore been rewarded not just with the first-choice opening partner’s role for his captain but also with the vice-captaincy. Gill had reprised a similar role in Sri Lanka last year after having led the T20I team on their five-match tour of Zimbabwe in July. Despite his shaky Test form and the remarkable run of scores piled up by the left-handed Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill continues to retain the confidence of the team management, of which he too will be a part in his continued role as Rohit’s deputy.
Jaiswal’s credentials haven’t been overlooked as he breaks into the ODI team for the first time. It won’t be long before Gill, also the T20I vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav, and Jaiswal extended their opening partnership in the 20-over format to the longer white-ball version as well.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOnus on all-rounders
India have gone with four all-rounders in keeping with their desire to have as many options as possible in the batting and bowling departments. The four who have found the nod are Hardik Pandya, the only seam-bowling all-rounder in the party, and the spin triumvirate of Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Axar and Jadeja are different types of left-arm spinners, Washington provides quality off-spin while Pandya’s presence lends balance to the side, with his brisk and penetrative fast-medium complemented by range-hitting towards the backend of the innings.
The thrust on multi-skilled players has confined Varun Chakravarthy to the sidelines, what with Kuldeep Yadav having recovered nicely from a hernia surgery and expected to play the same role as he did when India’s campaign shifted from New York to the West Indies in the T20 World Cup. There was no place for Nitish Kumar Reddy either. Given Rohit’s comfort levels with spin in such competitions and given that whatever help there might be for the bowlers in Dubai will largely be for the spinners, Nitish has been forced to bide his time.
Shami’s reintegration complete
Once Mohammed Shami was named in the squad for the five T20Is against England starting in Kolkata on Wednesday, there was little doubt that the leading wicket-taker at the 50-over World Cup in 2023 would automatically fit into the ODI scheme of things as well. Shami has showcased total recovery from the heel surgery of last year, and from untimely swelling in the knee subsequently, by playing for Bengal in all three formats in domestic cricket over the last two months.
Especially if Bumrah is unavailable, Shami will have to shoulder the responsibility of delivering with the new ball. And, if as the leadership group anticipates, the Gujarat ace is fit and firing, Shami and Bumrah will form one of the more lethal new-ball pairings in the tournament.
Siraj overlooked
Arshdeep Singh’s left-arm pace, and his ability to hold his own at the backend of the innings, have earned him the nod ahead of the more experienced Mohammed Siraj. Rohit was frank enough in admitting that Siraj’s effectiveness drops once the ball gets a little olde r, and that they were therefore looking at someone who could be incisive at different stages of the innings.
Arshdeep has played only eight ODIs to Siraj’s 44, but he has represented the country in 60 T20 games which have brought him 95 wickets and has shown himself to be adept at the death with his changes of pace and his ability to bowl a mean yorker. With India picking only three specialist quicks who will be backed up by Pandya, there was no room for Siraj but in different conditions, the Hyderabadi will be certain to return to consideration again.
No place for Nair
Agarkar conceded that Karun Nair, one of only two Test triple-centurions for India, was discussed at length following his returns of 752 runs until the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Vidarbha, adding that it was impossible to fit the 33-year-old into the squad , given the quality in the middle-order. Nair has batted at No. 3 for his state, a slot that will be occupied by Virat Kohli, him of a record 50 ODI centuries. Shreyas Iyer’s pedigree at No. 4 and KL Rahul’s twin avatars as wicketkeeper and explosive finisher combined to force the selectors to, reluctantly, overlook Nair’s rip-roaring and unparalleled recent form. Nair might come into focus ahead of the England Tests in the summer, especially if he extends his run-making ways to the second half of the Ranji Trophy season that will resume next week.
Rahul ahead of Pant
Rahul is set to retain the big gloves and start India’s campaign as the preferred wicketkeeper-batter ahead of Rishabh Pant. In Pant’s injury-enforced absence, Rahul was one of India’s unquestioned stars at the World Cup and occupied the position of stumper-batter in Sri Lanka for the first two ODIs even after Pant’s return to the national side. For all his pyrotechnics in Test cricket, the left-handed Pant is still to crack the 50-over code and goes into the competition as Rahul’s understudy.
Pant’s match-turning ability has won him the nod as the second stumper ahead of Sanju Samson, who hasn’t played a 50-over match for India since making 108 against South Africa in Paarl in December 2023. Samson, of course, didn’t help his cause by refusing to attend Kerala’s preparatory camp ahead of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, due to which his state didn’t consider him for selection.
Oh, and on a slightly non-Champions Trophy note. When Danny Morrison asked Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Abu Dhabi in December 2020 if that would be his last IPL game, the Chennai Super Kings skipper had replied, “Definitely not.” On Saturday, Rohit reprised that spirit as he was queried if he would play for Mumbai in the Ranji game against Jammu and Kashmir at the Wankhede from January 23. His answer, “I will.” There you go.
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