There were injury concerns for both Bumrah and Kuldeep ahead of Saturday’s selection, as Kuldeep had not played any competitive cricket since his hernia surgery in November, while Bumrah had suffered a stress-related injury during the fifth Test. of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. . Kuldeep has been increasing his bowling load at the National cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and is understood to be bowling 10-12 overs in a row.
With Virat Kohli at number 3, the middle-order looks the same as the squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul retaining their places, along with all-rounders Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Apart from Rahul, Rishabh Pant is the other keeper in the number 15, preferred ahead of Sanju Samson, who did not feature in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy. Washington Sundar is the fourth all-rounder in the team, which includes only four specialist bowlers.
The final squad for the Champions Trophy must be submitted to the ICC by February 11.
India will play three bilateral ODIs against England on February 6, 9 and 12, their first 50-over matches since the tour of Sri Lanka in August last year, ahead of the Champions Trophy. India are in Group A of the Champions Trophy and begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, after which they will play Pakistan on February 23 and New Zealand on March 2. India plays all its matches in Dubai because its government refused to allow the team to travel to Pakistan.
Team India for Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (captain), 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