ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Harshit Rana dropped, Rishabh Pant omitted from India XI picked by England great
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Former England captain Kevin Pietersen has picked India's Playing XI for the upcoming Champions Trophy. However, in a big surprise, Pietersen didn't pick Harshit Rana and Rishabh Pant in his team.
The team didn't have many surprises apart from Harshit Rana in the bowling department. Rana recently featured in all three ODIs against England and could emerge as India's trump card in the Champions Trophy.
Kevin Pietersen chose KL Rahul for the wicketkeeper's spot and didn't include Rishabh Pant in his team. Rahul was also India's preferred choice for the wicketkeeper's spot during the ODI series against England.
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ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Kevin Pietersen predicts India's batting order
While speaking to Star Sports, Kevin Pietersen spoke about India's team combination for the Champions Trophy. He feels that the big players have got runs under their belt which will make the team happier.
“One thing they'll be happy is that Virat Kohli got runs today. So Rohit's got runs. Gill, Shreyas (Iyer), it's a pretty formidable start, I tell you that," the former England batter noted.
Further speaking on the team combination, Pietersen picked KL Rahul over Rishabh Pant. Pietersen wants Rahul to face more no. of balls and preferred the No. 5 batting spot instead of him batting lower than Axar Patel.
"I want KL Rahul at 5 because I want him to face many balls he got. He came in today with 17 overs to go. And when you come in with more time, you can build it. I don't think KL Rahul is the guy that comes in with three overs to go and hits you 30 or 12 ball," Pietersen said.
"Rahul is the kind of guy that needs to get himself in in one day cricket. The best chance to give him that time is to bat him at 5,” he added.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Kevin Pietersen leaves out Harshit Rana
Coming to the bowling department, Kevin Pietersen picked the left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav over Varun Chakravarthy despite the latter being in brilliant form recently. He picked Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh as the frontline pacers over Harshit Rana.
“(Varun) Chakravarthy's been very good, but I think Kuldeep (Yadav) has been very good in terms of what he's produced and the numbers that he's produced. I like the left-arm seamer, so that's why Arshdeep starts for me," Pietersen revealed.
"You've got your three seamers there. (Mohammed) Shami, Arshdeep (Singh), and Hardik (Pandya). Then you've got (Ravindra) Jadeja, who's always my first pick. So Jadeja and the rest, Kuldeep (Yadav) Axar (Patel),” he added.
Harshit Rana wasn't a part of India's preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy. However, Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the whole tournament as he could not recover in time. It paved the way for Rana to make his place in the squad.
Kevin Pietersen's India Playing XI for ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.
