New Delhi: India skipper Rohit Sharma backed his team’s composition ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh on February 20, Thursday, brushing off the criticism surrounding the Men In Blue’s spin-heavy combination for the ICC event.
India, who open their campaign against Bangla Tigers in Dubai, have picked five spinners in the Champions Trophy squad, but Rohit defender the selection of the spin-heavy team by branding three out of the five tweakers as all-rounders who add a lot of value to his team.
Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav have been picked as the two specialist spinners while the other bowling options in the spin department are Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar – all capable batters.
The spin-heavy team has only three fast-bowling options in the form of Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana while Hardik Pandya is the sole pace all-rounder.
Rohit Sharma backs India’s team combination
“There only two spinners, the rest are all-rounders. They can bat and bowl,” said Rohit on the eve of the match.
“We play to our strengths. The three all-rounders give a different dimension to the squad, they add a lot to the squad. We wanted to have players with two skills rather than one,” added Rohit in the pre-match press conference.
Many former players including Ravichandran Ashwin had questioned the team’s combination after BCCI announced the 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy.
The former India all-rounder had raised his concerns over the team’s one-dimensional nature and pointed out that India might find themselves in a disadvantageous position for not having many left-handers who could potentially be part of the playing XI.
Meanwhile, Rohit also hailed the comeback of the tournament, which is returning after eight years and said that the team has to do a lot of things right to win the Champions Trophy for the second time in their history. The Men in Blue previously won CT under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2013.
India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), 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. The three players will travel to Dubai as and when required.
India’s spin-heavy team has only three fast-bowling options but Rohit Sharma has backed his players ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
