New Delhi: The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team reached Dubai on Saturday ahead of the all-important Champions Trophy 2025. The first batch of Indian players and support staff left for Dubai from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai earlier on Saturday. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was seen leaving alongside the likes of Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and others.
India have named a strong 15-man squad for the multi-nation tournament and will start as one of the favourites for the title. India reached the final of the last edition of the Champions Trophy in 2017 where they lost to arch-rivals Pakistan under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. India will be hoping to bury the horrors from the past and go all the way in the tournament this year.
The Indian players received a warm welcome from the fans after landing in Dubai on Saturday as many had gathered at the airport to get a glimpse of their favourite cricketers. In clips that surfaced on social media, the Indian cricketers were seen arriving in Dubai to cheers from the fans while some also posed for pictures at the airport.
Team India land in Dubai for Champions Trophy 2025:
Team India Has Reached Dubai For the Champions Trophy 2025💙#ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/uK5IFbGqK3
— 🚩🇮🇳 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐇 𝟏𝟖 ❤️ (@_Goat_Kohli_18) February 15, 2025
TEAM INDIA REACHED DUBAI. 🌟
– All the best, Team India. 🇮🇳@GautamGambhir @BCCI pic.twitter.com/0yUU7hbsHS
— Gauti Harshit Dhiman (GG Ka Parivar) (@GautiDhiman) February 15, 2025
A little fan reactions when he saw Virat Kohli at the Airport in Dubai.🥹 (Vimal Kumar).
– King Kohli, The favourite of all..!!!! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/tduwPGILYb
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) February 15, 2025
India are in Group A alongside arch-rivals Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand but will play all their matches in Dubai. The other teams will play their matches in Pakistan and will head to Dubai for their matches involving India. The opening match of the tournament will be held between Pakistan and New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi on February 19.
India will open their campaign against Bangladesh in their opening game in Dubai on February 20. India will lock horns with Pakistan in a highly-anticipated clash in Dubai on Sunday, February 23. India have a long gap after the Pakistan clash as they will play their final third group-stage game against New Zealand on March 02.
India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025
Despite Jasprit Bumrah missing the tournament, India have a strong squad for the Champions Trophy that is capable of going all the way in the competition. Harshit Rana replaced Bumrah while Varun Chakaravarthy was added to the squad in place of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal as India made a couple of changes to their final squad for the Champions Trophy earlier this week.
Chakaravarthy was added despite India having four spinners in their squad in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar. Meanwhile, Harshit will be spearheading India’s pace attack alongside Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh.
India’s squad – Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Rishabh Pant (wk), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy
Rohit Sharma-led Team India landed in Dubai on Saturday for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 which is set to get underway from February 19. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
