Former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan have picked their Indian team for the upcoming Champions Trophy. In a big surprise, they both decided to pick veteran Ravindra Jadeja Axar Patel in the team.
Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan also sprung a big surprise when they picked Yashasvi Jaiswal to open alongside Rohit Sharma in the tour. Both agreed to have Shubman Gill as a back-up player in the side instead of including him in the first choice – Playing XI.
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Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan pick India squad for Champions Trophy 2025
During a discussion on Star Sports show 'Game Plan', Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan agreed to have Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli in India's top three. The duo picked Shreyas Iyer due to his excellent batting form in the recent ODIs and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“If I sit there, I will say who has done really well in the recent past. KL Rahul had a fantastic 50-over World Cup. Shreyas Iyer – the kind of ODI World Cup he had, I think he needed support .In the last few months, he hasn't got that support, I will definitely back these two guys to be there in the Champions Trophy,” said Irfan Pathan.
When asked about the wicketkeepers, both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were picked in the first choice Playing XI, making it a strong and deep batting order. Sanju Samson was chosen as the third wicketkeeper due to his brilliant T20I form.
“No. 4 for me will be Shreyas Iyer. No. 5 will be KL Rahul and no. 6 will be Rishabh Pant. Sanju Samson with the hundreds he has scored must be in the squad because he has scored hundreds for India. How can you ignore someone who is scoring hundreds for his country?” Sunil Gavaskar remarked.
Ravindra Jadeja over Axar Patel
Surprisingly, both Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan insisted on having a long batting line-up with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja at positions 7 and 8. They picked Nitish Kumar Reddy as their back-up player based on his excellent recent Test debut. Axar Patel did not find his place in the squad.
“If you have that kind of balance, you'll have Ravindra Jadeja at No.8 and then obviously you've got batting and bowling options. This is as good a batting line-up as you're going to see,” observed Pathan.
“Having fast bowling as a backup is a wonderful option. Nitish Kumar Reddy is also at a high level. It's not easy to play in Australia, he did that,” the former India all-rounder added.
Bowling lineup
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan picked Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav as the three bowlers in the squad. However, Pathan insisted on having Mohammed Siraj as his back-up fast bowler.
“Mohammed Siraj will be third, not in the XI, if Bumrah and Shami are available, but we have to see what happens with Bumrah next. Hopefully the injury is not that bad,” Irfan Pathan said.
Unfortunately, all three bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav have injury problems at the moment. Kuldeep and Shami underwent surgery last year. While Shami has been selected for the upcoming T20I seriesit remains to be seen how he maintains his workload of international cricket.
Meanwhile, Kuldeep is yet to return to the field after his groin surgery. However, the biggest worry will be Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah suffered a side strain during the Sydney Test against Australia and there has been no update on his fitness since that match.
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan's India Team for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (week), Rishabh Pant (week), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson () , Nitish Kumar Reddy