As Indian cricket fans await the big ICC Champions Trophy announcement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), former cricketers like Irfan Pathan and Sunil Gavaskar have shared their preferences. The BCCI selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, recently sought an extension from the ICC over the squad announcement due to the suspense over Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav‘s availability. While the official squad is expected to be announced on January 19, Gavaskar and Pathan made some glaring omissions as they revealed their choices.
India’s batting legend Sunil Gavaskar feels both Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have to be picked for the Champions Trophy, forming the core of India’s middle-order while Sanju Samson can’t be overlooked either, especially in the wake of his exemplary performances in the shortest format. Rishabh Pant is also a certainty in Gavaskar’s roster.
“If I am sitting 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 some backing. In the last few months, he has not got that backing. I will definitely back these two guys to be there in the Champions Trophy,” he said on Star Sports.
“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, has to be in the squad because he has scored hundreds for India. How can you ignore somebody who is scoring hundreds for his country?” the former India captain asserted.
For Irfan, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav form the spin-bowling pair while Mohammed Siraj was third in the pecking order when it comes to the pace bowlers. Irfan wants Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami to be the first two pacers in the team.
“If you have this kind of balance, you will have Ravindra Jadeja at No. 8 and then obviously you have batting and bowling options. This is as good a batting lineup as you will see. Having a fast-bowling all-rounder as your backup is a wonderful option. Nitish Kumar Reddy is on a high also. Not easy to perform in Australia, he has done that,” the former India all-rounder said during the same discussion.
“Mohammed Siraj will be the third one, not in the playing XI if Bumrah and Shami are available but we have got to see what happens with Bumrah going forward. We hope that the injury is not that severe,” he observed.
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Mohammed Siraj and Nitish Kumar Reddy
Notably, there was no place for Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal and a few other top players in the team.
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