The ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is to start from 19 February. The Indian team led by Rohit Sharma has reached Dubai for this tournament. Team India has to play all their matches in this tournament at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Indian team will start their campaign on 20 February (Thursday) from the match against Bangladesh.
5 spinners in the team, questions are standing
The Indian team has placed five spinners in the Champions Trophy team. These include Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakraborty. The good thing is that except Varun, the remaining four also have the experience of batting. However, their main job will have to do spin bowling.
However, the decision to include five spinners is being questioned. Former Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had expressed surprise at this decision. Now Lalchand Rajput, who was the coach of the Indian team, has also questioned this decision. Rajput believes that there is still winter in Dubai, in such a situation, the pitch can also be favorable for pace bowlers.
Rajput said in an interview to TOI, ‘There is still winter in UAE. This is the time of the year when there is some help and good carry for the fast bowlers on the wickets here. I felt a little surprising that India had chosen five spinners in its team. Let us know that when the Indian team won the 2007 T20 World Cup led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Lalchand Rajput was the coach and manager of the team. Lalchand is currently the head coach of the UAE team. In such a situation, he has a complete experience of the circumstances of Dubai.
Lalchand Rajput hopes that Dubai’s pitch will be flat. Rajput says, ‘A total of 380 runs were scored in the recent ILT20 final between Desert Wipers and Dubai Capitals. Pakistan is the host of the tournament. Since India does not have Jasprit Bumrah, the Pakistani team can opt for fast bowlers or a flat track.
Lalchand Rajput supported the decision of Indian selectors to include mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty in the team. Rajput says, ‘Varun is bowling brilliantly at this time. He can be India’s X factor in the tournament. Especially Pakistan may find it difficult to deal with them because their batsmen do not play in the IPL.
Rajputs are surprised to not feed Pant
Rishabh Pant did not get a chance in the three -match ODI series against England and KL was given attention to Rahul. Regarding this, Rajput said, ‘This is a call that surprised me because Pant is a game-changer. I have seen that they are sending Akshar Patel to number-5 from Rahul. On number-6, Pant is an ideal finisher. There is no doubt in my mind that if Rahul is batting at number 5 or 6, then Pant should play.
Lalchand Rajput hopes that India will perform well in the Champions Trophy. Rajput said, ‘India is a strong contender to win the tournament. His batting is good. A century against England would have given Rohit a lot of confidence. Virat Kohli also scored a half -century in that series. Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer are in excellent form.
Indian Squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-Qetan), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarti, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar.
Non-Trawling Substitute: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammad Siraj and Shivam Dubey
Full schedule of Champions Trophy …
February 19- Pakistan vs New Zealand, Karachi
February 20- Bangladesh vs India, Dubai
February 21- Afghanistan vs South Africa, Karachi
February 22- Australia vs England, Lahore
February 23- Pakistan vs India, Dubai
February 24- Bangladesh vs New Zealand, Rawalpindi
February 25- Australia vs South Africa, Rawalpindi
26 February- Afghanistan vs England, Lahore
27 February- Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Rawalpindi
28 February- Afghanistan vs Australia, Lahore
March 1- South Africa vs England, Karachi
March 2- New Zealand vs India, Dubai
March 4- semi-final-1, Dubai
March 5- Semi-2, Lahore
March 9- Final, Lahore (will be played in Dubai when India reaches final)
March 10- Reserve Day