 "Champions Trophy 2025: How Team India's squad raises more questions than answers")
The BCCI on Tuesday revealed India’s final 15-member squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, and the biggest talking point was that of pacer Jasprit Bumrah being ruled out of the tournament due to a back spasm. Bumrah had sustained the injury during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney in January and despite undergoing rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, the speedster failed to recover in time for the Champions Trophy, which begins on 19 February.
Wednesday (12 February) is the deadline for all eight teams to finalise their 15-member squad. Harshit Rana has been named as Bumrah’s replacement in the India squad.
However, that is not the only change in the Men in Blue squad for the eight-team tournament. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been added into the draft in place of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been demoted as a non-travelling reserve player along with Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. Chakravarthy’s inclusion comes in the aftermath of his recent revival in limited-overs as far as his international career is concerned.
He picked up 14 wickets in the five-match T20I series against England and made his ODI debut in Cuttack, where he finished with figures of 1/54. Jaiswal, on the other hand, made his ODI debut in the first match in Nagpur, where he scored 15 runs off 22 balls, hitting three fours.
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View AllHow India squad for Champions Trophy 2025 raises more questions than answers
To start off with, it was reported Yashasvi Jaiswal was going to be preferred over Shreyas Iyer in India’s original playing XI for the Nagpur ODI. However, a late selection call was made due to Virat Kohli’s knee injury, which paved the way for both Jaiswal and Iyer to play the series opener.
“So, funny story,” Iyer had said after his 36-ball 59 in Nagpur. “I was watching a movie last night, I thought I could extend my night, but then I got a call from skipper saying that you may play because Virat has got a swollen knee. And then [I] hurried back to my room, went off to sleep straightaway,” he revealed.
This statement meant that Jaiswal was going to start over Iyer regardless of Kohli’s injury and it was in fact Iyer that replaced Kohli in the playing XI in Nagpur.
Jaiswal opened with Rohit Sharma in Nagpur with Shubman Gill batting at No 3. That, however, changed once again when Kohli returned for the second ODI, with Gill and Rohit opening and Jaiswal being dropped from the playing XI altogether. Now, Jaiswal has been demoted from the main squad for the Champions Trophy to being one of the three non-travelling reserves.
Even more questionable is the selection of leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy in an already spin-heavy bowling attack. This means that India have five spinners in their squad and they will head to Dubai, where spinners don’t get much assistance as they do in Sharjah. This also raises the question if India lack confidence in Kuldeep Yadav, who made his India return in Nagpur after a long injury layoff.
Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra even hoped that Kuldeep Yadav does not get benched.
“India has picked 5 spinners for Champions Trophy. FIVE. Sharjah would be an ideal venue for this squad. Spin To Win. Dubai?? Not so sure. That surface hasn’t helped spinners as much…ever. Also, I really hope that Kuldeep isn’t benched for Varun. Play both if you must…but Kuldeep has to be India’s premier spinner,” he wrote on “X”.
India has picked 5 spinners for Champions Trophy. FIVE.
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 12, 2025
Sharjah would be an ideal venue for this squad. Spin To Win.
Dubai?? Not so sure. That surface hasn’t helped spinners as much…ever.
Also, I really hope that Kuldeep isn’t benched for Varun. Play both if you must…but…
‘Ineffective’ Mohammed Siraj in non-travelling reserves
During the India squad announcement press conference in January, skipper Rohit Sharma had revealed why India preferred Arshdeep Singh over Mohammed Siraj in their 15-member squad for Champions Trophy. Rohit had said that Arshdeep was selected over Siraj due to his ability to bowl in the death overs.
“We are not sure if Jasprit Bumrah will play or not. Hence, we wanted someone who can bowl with the new ball and the old one. That is why, we have picked Arshdeep Singh, because of his abilities in the backend. Siraj’s effectiveness comes down if he doesn’t use the new ball. It’s unfortunate if he misses out,” he had said.
However, Siraj now finds himself in the non-travelling reserves for the Champions Trophy, which raises even more questions on India’ selection process.
With constant chopping and changing to the squad, only time will tell how far India can go in the Champions Trophy. India begin their campaign against Bangladesh on 20 February, before facing Pakistan three days later. They will play their last group stage match against New Zealand on 2 March.
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