Rohit Sharma will continue to captain the Indian side in the upcoming Champions Trophy as well as the England series, which will be played as the build-up to the tournament. Arshdeep Singh has been selected ahead of the pacer Mohammad Siraj, after the former capped the Vijay Hazare Trophy as the highest wicket-taker.
Jasprit Bumrah’s participation, though, remains uncertain owing to the back spasm that forced him to abandon bowling on the fifth day of the final Test agaisnt Australia. India have until February 11 to announce their final squad for the tournament. They will want to observe Bumrah’s progress till then. He is also in the squad that will face England in the third ODI, though he will miss the first two games. This could help the BCCI to make the final decision. In case, the left-arm pacer is not fit to feature in the Champions Trophy, young pacer Harshit Rana will replace him.
In addition to Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav is also in the race to get fit before the eight-team tournament begins on February 19. Yadav had hernia surgery in November and is currently rehabilitating at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). India do not have any other specialist spinner besides Kuldeep Yadav, though they have a few spin all-rounders including Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar.
Mohammad Shami, whose injury had him miss all international games for India since the ODI World Cup in 2023, is all set to resume bowling at the highest level. Before the Champions Trophy, he will feature in the home series against England, where he will play his first competitive cricket game in 14 months. Hardik Pandya caps the four-men pace attack, and is the side’s only fast bowling all-rounder.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has never played in the ODI format, is also a part of the squad, and will be the understudy for the Indian openers, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Virat Kohli has kept his usual No. 3 position, as have Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. Rishabh Pant will keep the wickets in what will be his first ODI format tournament since the 2019 ODI World Cup. Rahul will be the backup wicket-keeper.
The Indian team has faced a tough couple of months where they endured a Test whitewash at home at the hands of New Zealand followed by a 3-1 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy down under, which stifled all of their World Test Championship (WTC) final chances. They will look to redeem themselves in the eight-team tournament, which could very well be the last mega-event for a handful of Indian players.
Unlike other teams in the Champions Trophy, India will play all of their games in the United Arab Emirates. This means that they are the only team well aware of the playing conditions waiting for them. They will kick off their campaign with a match against Bangladesh in Dubai.
India’s provisional squad for Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), 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
