The ninth installment of the Champions Trophy is slated to commence on February 19, 2025. The tournament will be returning after an eight-year-long hiatus, and hence, promises a fusion of excitement and intense competition amongst all the participating teams. The tournament will be played across venues in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
The official 15-member squad of India is yet to be revealed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The deadline for the participating teams to hand in their respective provisional list to the International Cricket Council (ICC) is January 12. Further adjustments to the squad based on player form and fitness can be made until February 13, six days before the commencement of the tournament.
According to the freshest developments, Rohit Sharma will continue to be at the helm in the 50-over format. Jasprit Bumrah is reported to be the vice-captain of the side, as per Revsportz. This is bearing in mind that he is recovering optimally from the back spasm he sustained for the marquee event to be held in February and March. The assessment of his back injury will be made at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. In case Bumrah does not feature, Shubman Gill could be expected to be the deputy skipper.
It is also understood that veteran right-arm quick, Mohammed Shami, will serve as an anchor of a formidable pace attack. Shami played his last international game at the 2023 World Cup and has been giving it his all in the domestic circuit ever since returning from an ankle injury. The seasoned pacer is likely to be accompanied by Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh to form a versatile pace-bowling unit. Shami is currently featuring for Bengal in the ongoing edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He looked quite polished during the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy too.
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India’s likely squad for Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (vc, subject to fitness), Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav.
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