The India cricket team’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy might have been picked, but that doesn’t mean the problems end there. Now all the discussions are about who will feature in the playing XI for Team India’s three group-stage matches against Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand. Out of the fifteen picks, four will have to miss out. The question is, who are these four?
India’s XI for ICC Champions Trophy
A glance at the squad would suggest that non-regulars Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and either Axar Patel or Washington Sundar will not make the cut in India’s XI for the ICC Champions Trophy. The first three don’t play ODIs often, and Jaiswal is yet to make his debut. The last one falls upon preference and the composition of the other team. Since Ravindra Jadeja is already there, playing Axar doesn’t make that much sense.
Jaiswal over Gill for Harbhajan
Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh feels Jaiswal should play at all costs. However, he can’t drop any other player for him. Bhajji even went as far as saying that the Indian management could have named Shubman Gill as the vice-captain so that he could have been dropped and Jaiswal could have played ahead of him. That can’t happen, though.
“I think they have picked him (Gill) as vice-captain, keeping the road ahead in mind. Maybe, in the next six to eight months, whenever the transition happens, Gill will be given that responsibility (captaincy). Maybe they could have waited until the end of this tournament (Champions Trophy). I am happy for Gill, but I wanted Yashasvi Jaiswal to play. The left-right combination at the top is important. And he plays freely; he is in good form. He doesn’t have the pressure of fighting for a spot. He is stable. He could have batted at the top,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
No Shreyas Iyer to accommodate Jaiswal?
But does Harbhajan like Jaiswal so much that he’s willing to tinker with the batting line-up? Will he move Gill and Virat Kohli down the order to accommodate the southpaw? Perhaps even drop Shreyas Iyer from the team. “No, Shreyas Iyer deserves a spot. He made over 300 runs in the World Cup. There is probably no better player in the middle order than him. Yashasvi Jaiswal should play, but I don’t know how,” the spinner concluded.
India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Travelling Reserves: Varun Chakaravarthy, Avesh Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy
Editor's Pick
Cricket
India in Champions Trophy: Focus on Ro-Ko's form, spin unit and pace battery sans Bumrah
Top Stories
Shubman Gill overtakes Babar Azam to become no.1 ODI batter ahead of IND vs PAK Champions Trophy tie
