ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant's fate decided as selectors to finalize India squad on...
Published - 05 Jan 2025, 01:57 PM | Updated - 05 Jan 2025, 11:36 PM
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The Indian selectors and the Indian cricket team management are all set to meet on Monday, January 6, to finalize the squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. As the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 concluded on a sour note, the BCCI decided to move forward and called a meeting on Monday.
Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma is confirmed to lead India in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 despite his poor form with the bat, while the star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will also secure his spot in the squad for the prestigious tournament, according to RevSportz journalist Rohit Juglan.
BCCI set to finalize ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad on January 6
It is being said that the discussions are expected around Arshdeep Singh's inclusion in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 squad, with final decisions likely to follow shortly. The journalist revealed that a few preliminary meetings have already been conducted to finalize the core lineup for the ICC event.
Break - A meeting on champions Trophy to be held tomorrow
— रोहित जुगलान Rohit Juglan (@rohitjuglan) January 5, 2025
Rohit to lead for sure
Pant will be there in the squad - There will be a discussion on Arshdeep’s name -
Few short meetings already done
There were reports that Hardik Pandya will lead India in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 if Rohit is not available. But it is now confirmed that the Hitman will be the leader in the eight-nation tournament. There is also uncertainty over Suryakumar Yadav’s place given his ODI performances.
Jasprit Bumrah’s fresh injury becomes a headache for India
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah’s fresh back injury has certainly put India’s plans in jeopardy. The BCCI has not yet made any official statement on Bumrah’s injury, but the upcoming meeting will confirm whether the star pacer will take part in the tournament.
Notably, Bumrah had undergone surgery in 2023 for a stress fracture in his back, so there is no doubt that India will be extra cautious with the fresh back spasm. But if there is a serious issue, then it will be a big blow to the Men in Blue for their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign.
Additionally, Mohammed Shami’s availability is also under scrutiny, and then Mohammed Siraj is also facing some fitness issues, so it will be interesting to see how the Indian selectors shape up the pace attack for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which they won back in 2013 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy.
India's next assignment is home series against England
Well, the recently concluded five-match Test series in Australia left many frustrated as the senior players, except for Jasprit Bumrah, badly struggled to deliver with the youngsters shining in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, which the hosts clinched after a decade with a 3-1 margin.
Despite India’s overwhelming performance Down Under, the Champions Trophy squad is expected to feature a majority of the players who played in the BGT 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, including under-fire Virat Kohli, who had a horrendous time in Australia.
India's next assignment is a five-match T20I series, starting on January 22, and then a three-match ODI series against England starting on February 6, followed by the Champions Trophy 2025, which will be played from February 19 to March 9 in Pakistan and the UAE.
Notably, the ICC has set January 12 as the official deadline for the eight teams—England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan—participating in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to finalize and submit their squads.
