India is anticipated to go together with three all-rounders, 4 batters, and three out-and-out bowlers.
The India cricket team will open their ICC Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on February 20. Billed as the favourites, it could turn out that the biggest headache for Team India could be their Playing XI. With such a strong team and multiple options, especially in bowling, putting four players on the bench can be difficult.
KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant
The batting order is pretty much set. The Men in Blue have just four specialist batters: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer. All four will naturally play. The question then comes, who’ll be the wicketkeeper? From what has been observed in the recently concluded India vs England ODI series, KL Rahul will play over Rishabh Pant.
Rahul has proven himself at number five and Rohit Sharma seems to back him despite a couple of failures here and there. Yes, Pant is talented, but one can’t put Rahul’s proven success in ODI. He’ll start against Bangladesh.
No place for Washington Sundar
Similar to batters, there are four all-rounders as well, and they pick themselves. Washington Sundar won’t get a sight in. Yes, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are similar bowlers, but batting-wise, they are very much different. Axar and Jadeja are great against spin and pace, as far as batting goes. Meanwhile, Washington hasn’t proved his batting in white-ball cricket. Hardik Pandya will be the first name on the team sheet.
Harshit Rana & Varun Chakaravarthy to sit out
There are five specialist bowlers. Only three will play. Mohammed Shami may have been out of rhythm but he’s the most experienced bowler in the team. He could arguably be called the greatest ODI bowler of all time and needs to play. Arshdeep Singh played just one match in the India vs. England ODI series but will play ahead of Harshit Rana, who featured in all three games. Arshdeep is great with the new ball and possesses old-ball prowess as well. He’s also a left-arm pacer. His ability to swing the new ball into the right-handed and take it away from southpaws will be extremely useful.
As for spinners. There is the option of having either Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakaravarthy. Recency bias would suggest that the mystery spinner would play, but Kuldeep is the proven bowler here. He’s coming from an injury, and Chakaravarthy is in red-hot form. There are reports that Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir have differing opinions. The Indian captain wants Kuldeep and the coach backs Chakaravarthy. In the end, Rohit is expected to prevail.
India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Bench: Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Editor’s Pick
India’s Predicted XI vs Bangladesh: KL Rahul over Pant, Arshdeep Singh to associate Shami
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