India on Saturday unveiled its 15-member squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against England, as well as the much-anticipated Champions Trophy 2025, set to take place in Pakistan and the UAE.
The squad was officially revealed during a press conference by Indian captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
One of the key highlights of the squad is the return of pacer Mohammed Shami, who last featured in an ODI match against Australia during the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Shami’s inclusion comes as a significant boost to India’s bowling attack as they prepare for the major events ahead.
However, there is uncertainty surrounding the selection of Jasprit Bumrah for the Champions Trophy 2025. The pacer is currently recovering from a back injury and, as a result, has been excluded from the ODI squad for the England series.
Harshit Rana has been called up as a replacement in Bumrah’s absence.
The final decision on Bumrah’s participation in the Champions Trophy is contingent upon his fitness ahead of the tournament.
In a surprise move, fast bowler Mohammad Siraj and wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson have been left out of the squad. However, Shreyas Iyer and Kuldeep Yadav have made their return to the Indian lineup after missing recent fixtures.
Speaking on the exclusion of Siraj and the selection of Arshdeep Singh, Captain Rohit Sharma explained, “Siraj is not there because we wanted Arshdeep to bowl at the back end in case Bumrah is not available. Siraj’s effectiveness comes down if he is not taking the new ball, and with Arshdeep and Shami in the squad, we had no option but to select guys who can fulfill all three facets of bowling: bowling at the start, in the middle, and at the death.”
He also shed light on the decision to pick four spinners in the squad, emphasizing the versatility of the selected players.
“It’s not about picking spin bowlers for the sake of it. These are specialist all-rounders in Axar Patel, Washi Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja as they can equally contribute with both bat and ball. Sundar offers the right-arm spin option, Axar and Jadeja offer left-arm, while Kuldeep offers left-arm chinaman, which covers kind of all bases,” Rohit said.
Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector, also provided an update on Shami’s fitness, saying, “Shami has played most of the Syed Mushtaq Ali games and some of the Vijay Hazare games. To get him involved in T20Is is mainly to get him up to pace in international cricket, and we are hoping he is at 100% when it comes to Champions Trophy matches.”
The eight-team tournament, comprised of 15 matches, will run from February 19 to March 9, across three venues – Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi – in Pakistan and Dubai.
The teams are divided into two groups. Group A features Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Bangladesh, while Group B is comprised of Afghanistan, South Africa, England and Australia.
Hosts Pakistan will take on New Zealand in the curtain raiser on February 19 in Karachi, while the blockbuster clash between arch-rivals Pakistan and India is scheduled for February 23 in Dubai.
Pakistan will host a total of 10 matches in their country, while four matches, including all three of India’s group-stage matches and the first semi-final, will be played in Dubai.
The final of the tournament is scheduled to be played in Lahore but if India qualify then it will also be held in Dubai.
Furthermore, a reserve day has also been allocated for the final clash as a precautionary measure to combat any weather-related hindrence.
India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja
