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Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra picked India's 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to be played in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19.
India will play a three-match ODI series against England before the showpiece event which starts on February 6. They will play their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai with their first game against Bangladesh to be played on February 20.
Chopra felt that just like the 2023 ODI World Cup, Rohit Sharma should be the captain of the team and should be opening the batting despite his poor form in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy.
"Rohit Sharma as an opener and captain, without a shadow of a doubt. From the start of the 2023 ODI World Cup, he has played 14 innings and scored 754 runs at an average of 54, with a century and five half-centuries and a strike rate of nearly 130."
While Shubman Gill didn't have great numbers ever since the start of the ODI World Cup, averaging 37.4 in 12 innings, Chopra named him in the squad along with Yashasvi Jaiswal as a backup opener.
Chopra felt that Virat Kohli's place in the Champions Trophy squad was a no-brainer.
"After that Virat Kohli, there is no doubt about that. He has scored his runs at an average of 74 in 14 innings and has scored three centuries. Although he didn't score runs in Sri Lanka, he still has an average of 74. Imagine how his World Cup would have been," Chopra observed.
Chopra then ignored the names of Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson and picked Shreyas Iyer in the squad.
Ever since the start of the ODI World Cup, Iyer had scored 620 runs in 15 innings with two hundreds to his name. KL Rahul was the first-choice wicketkeeper in Aakash Chopra's XI. Rishabh Pant has been picked as a backup wicketkeeper.
The three all-rounders that Aakash Chopra picked were Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel. He picked Kuldeep Yadav as a specialist spinner. He then picked four seamers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, and Arshdeep Singh.
Aakash Chopra's Team India squad for Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
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