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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has picked left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh ahead of Harshit Rana in India’s playing XI for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to start on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai.
Notably, Harshit Rana did a decent job in the recently concluded England ODI series earlier this month. Rana went on to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the 15-man Champions Trophy 2025 squad.
"I would go with the left-armer and I'd go with Arshdeep (to replace Bumrah)," Ponting said on The ICC Review.
"We know how good he's been in T20 cricket and if you think about the skill set, he probably provides a similar skill set to what Bumrah does with new ball and death overs and that's what India will miss,” he added.
"That's taking nothing away from Harshit Rana because I think he has got a lot of talent and we know what he can do with the new ball, but I don't think his death skills are as good as what Arshdeep Singh's are,” Ponting asserted
While Rohit Sharma will lead the squad, Shubman Gill is his opening partner. Virat Kohli is expected to bat at No.3 while Shreyas Iyer will take the No.4 role. Moreover, KL Rahul is the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter with Rishabh Pant selected as his back-up.
Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja are all-round options. Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy are other players part of the squad.
India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy, 2025:
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.
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