
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Saturday, January 18 announced India’s squad for the Champions Trophy 2025. Rohit Sharma has been retained as captain and there were concerns regarding Jasprit Bumrah’s availability but the selectors have named him in the 15-member squad. The ace pacer however will undergo a scan, which will determine the intensity of the injury and it will also decide whether BCCI will back him for the mega tournament or announce his replacement later on.
Apart from that, the selectors have shown faith in the majority of the cricketers who featured in the ODI World Cup 2023. There are a few exceptions, such as Axar Patel replaced Ravichandran Ashwin, who announced his international retirement after the Gabba Test, and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Washington Sundar replaced Ishan Kishan and Shardul Thakur respectively. Interestingly, Arshdeep Singh was picked ahead of Mohammed Siraj.
Meanwhile, here are three deserving players who didn’t make it to India’s Champions Trophy 2025 squad.
3. Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson was in the reckoning, especially after KL Rahul contacted BCCI for not considering him a keeper in long formats. The Indian team management was happy with Samson’s progress in white-ball cricket but his decision to skip the Vijay Hazare Trophy might have played a part in BCCI not considering for selection. Rishabh Pant has made the cut.
2. Karun Nair
Karun Nair had a phenomenal time in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025. The 33-year-old has made 752 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 125.96. He has helped Vidarbha qualify for the final and was in contention to make it to India’s squad. However, the middle order is currently stacked with Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya, and Nair failed to get into the squad for the same reason.
1. Mohammed Siraj
The selectors interestingly dropped Mohammed Siraj from the Champions Trophy squad. Arshdeep Singh has been named in his absence. The pacer was struggling with form in red-ball cricket and it impacted his selection in ODIs as well. Arshdeep, on the other hand, was phenomenal for India in the T20 World Cup and picked up 20 wickets in seven innings in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.