Mumbai: Rohit Sharma will captain the 15-member Indian cricket team for the Champions Trophy 2025 to be played in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the squad at a packed press conference at the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters here.
Skipper Rohit Sharma was present alongside Agarkar. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who sustained back spasms during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 was picked in the squad by the 5-member selection panel. The team for the three-match ODI series against England at home was also announced by the BCCI.
India squad for Champions Trophy:
BCCI Announces India Squad For Champions Trophy 2025 & England ODI Series (PTI Videos) Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.
India squad for England Series:
Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Hashit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sunder, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav.
Jasprit Bumrah will miss the England ODI series as he won't be available for at least two of the England series due to a back spasm. Harshit Rana will replace Bumrah in the squad for the ODIs series against Harshit Rana.
Speaking about Karun Nair, Agarkar said, "Those are special performances. We did have a chat, no doubt. at the moment to find a spot in this team is very difficult. look at the guys who have been picked, all average in excess of 40."
The Champions Trophy 2025 is set to take place from February 19 to March 9, 2025. The tournament will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India's matches will be held at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) declined to travel to Pakistan. If India qualifies for Semi-Final 1 and the final, those matches will also be played in Dubai; if not, they will be relocated to Lahore, Pakistan.
India is placed in Group A, alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Bangladesh, and New Zealand. The Men in Blue will kick off their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, 2025. The other group consists of Australia, England, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.
India will play their first Champions Trophy group stage match against Bangladesh on January 20, followed by Pakistan on 23 and New Zealand on March 2.
The ICC Champions Trophy has seen eight editions so far, with Team India lifting the trophy twice. The first title win came in 2002 when the Sourav Ganguly-led side shared the trophy with Sri Lanka due to rain, and the second in 2013 under MS Dhoni’s leadership in England, which was reduced to the 20-over game after rain intervened for a brief period. India were the runners-up in the last edition that happened in 2017 in England, as they faced a heavy defeat from Pakistan in the final.
India’s performance this time will be under scrutiny as they had a forgettable 2024 since their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, having lost a lone ODI series against Sri Lanka in the Island nation, a first-ever three-match Test series whitewash at home and embarrassing Test BGT defeat after 10 years.
Rohit Sharma and Co. and coach Gautam Gambhir have a point to prove in the ICC tournament after a series of disappointing performances in ODIs and Tests. The Indian team will aim to reclaim the trophy after more than a decade.
