India in Champions Trophy: Focus on Ro-Ko's form, spin unit and pace battery sans Bumrah

India cricket team will embark on their journey to lift the ICC Champions Trophy title once again as they take on Bangladesh on February 20 in the tournament opener. With their batting line-up and spin department star-studded, Rohit Sharma and co. will look to add another trophy to their cabinet in a dominating fashion. However, India’s pace department will be in focus, considering that their most experienced and lethal weapon – Jasprit Bumrah – will not be a part of the tourney.

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Five spinners, no Siraj: Karthik slightly baffled by India’s Champions Trophy strategy

Strengths – Power-packed batting and spin unit

Undoubtedly, India’s biggest strengths heading into the Champions Trophy will be their batting line-up. Featuring the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya among others, the team’s batting order is a nightmare for any opposition. All eyes will be on veterans Rohit and Virat. The duo managed to find their golden touch once again in the recently concluded IND vs ENG ODI series. The duo will hope to carry on with the momentum in the marquee tournament in Dubai.

Shreyas is in good form and proved why he is India’s best at number 4. Vice-captain Gill will play the perfect role as anchor, and has the ability to accelerate at will. Rahul, Axar, Hardik and Jadeja will provide the much-needed batting depth that India needs.

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India cricket team has made a bold decision by including five spinners in their squad for CT 2025. There has been a lot of buzz over crowding spinners in the squad, with many critics pointing at how the surface behaved with the spinners in the recently-concluded ILT20 tournament. However, the format is completely different and India will be banking on Jadeja, Axar, Kuldeep and Varun to get the much-needed breakthroughs in the middle overs. Washington Sundar, who is unlikely to get a game, will serve as a back-up for either Chakravarthy or Kuldeep.

Weakness – Pace battery sans Bumrah

India’s pace battery will be in the focus, considering that they will head into the tournament without the services of Bumrah. Shami has returned from injury after 14 long months but isn’t bowling in full tilt yet. The team took a gamble by leaving out the experienced Siraj and instead went ahead with Arshdeep Singh. To make matters more complicated, they preferred Harshit Rana over Siraj once again. Given the lack of experience of Arshdeep and Rana in ODIs, Hardik is expected to serve second fiddle to Shami.

India’s squad for Champions Trophy

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Non Travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube

Cricket ICC Champions Trophy India Cricket Team Jasprit Bumrah Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli