ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakravarthy? India's Playing 11 vs Bangladesh locked

One of the biggest questions for India ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh will be the choice of the spinner in the Playing XI. Former India opener Aakash Chopra has picked one out of Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy for the spot of specialist spinner.

Both spinners have different varieties but boast incredible skills with the ball. Both of them are wicket-taking options which decides to drop one of these players extremely difficult.

With the Champions Trophy 2025 looming around the corner, the speculations around India's Playing XI are growing as well. However, it remains to be seen which bowler India prefers given the conditions and the opposition.

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Aakash Chopra picks India's batting line-up

While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked India's Playing XI for the first match of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh. Chopra picked KL Rahul as the wicketkeeper over Rishabh Pant and also named Axar Patel at No. 5.

"What could be India's playing XI on the 20th? Shubman Gill with Rohit Sharma, the captain and vice-captain will open. There shouldn't be any question asked about No. 3 because run-machine (Virat) Kohli will be there. Shreyas Iyer has to be there at No. 4," Chopra said.

"I see Axar Patel batting at No. 5 and I am thinking (KL) Rahul at No. 6 and Hardik Pandya at No. 7. Then you are looking at Ravindra Jadeja at No. 8," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

India have preferred to play Axar Patel up the batting order to address the left-right combination in the batting line-up. The move has proved to be successful as Axar has looked in good batting form.

Aakash Chopra picks Kuldeep Yadav over Varun Chakravarthy

Further speaking on the bowling line-up, Aakash Chopra believes that Kuldeep Yadav will play if the captain Rohit Sharma gets the nod to pick the team. However, he also claimed that Varun Chakravarthy might play if the head coach Gautam Gambhir picks the Playing XI.

Chopra gave his share of the vote to Kuldeep Yadav given his experience of playing the ICC tournaments and the ODI format. Kuldeep has been India's premier spinner in the white-ball format and has performed exceedingly well.

"If Rohit Sharma is taking all the calls, then I see Kuldeep (Yadav) playing. "However, if Gautam enjoys greater preference because I don't know the dynamics, Varun Chakaravarthy might get an opportunity first, but my vote will be for Kuldeep Yadav," he said.

Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy are the two specialist spinners in India's squad among the five spinners. The other three - Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar - are all spin bowling all-rounders.

Arshdeep Singh is the first-choice fast bowler

In the fast bowling department, Chopra picked Arshdeep Singh as the first-choice option. He named Mohammed Shami as the other bowler given he is in good bowling form. That leaves Harshit Rana on the bench.

"Arshdeep Singh will 100 percent be in my team. From the other end, if Mohammed Shami is looking perfect, then Mohammed Shami, or else you could see Harshit Rana playing because he is not bowling well with the new ball but is pulling his weight in the side in the middle and end overs," the former India opener added.

Team India will play its opening match of the Champions Trophy 2025 against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai. The Men in Blue will next face Pakistan on February 23 and will cap off their campaign against New Zealand on March 2.

Aakash Chopra's probable Playing XI of India against Bangladesh

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli. Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh