Former Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan has selected the Indian squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. In a big surprise, they both decided to pick veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja Akhar Patel in the squad.
Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan also sprung a big surprise when they picked Yashasvi Jaiswal along with Rohit Sharma in the tournament. They both agreed to accept Shubman Gill as a back-up key in the side rather than include him in the first choice – Playing XI.
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Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan pick India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025
During a discussion on ‘The Game Plan’ on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan agreed that India’s top three would include Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli. The duo picked Shreyas Iyer for his excellent batting form in 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 has had a fantastic 50-over World Cup. Shreyas Iyer – ODI World Cup type, I think he needs support. In the last few months, he hasn’t got that support, I will definitely support these two guys in the Champions Trophy,” said Irfan Pathan.
When asked about the wicket-keepers, both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were picked in the first choice Playing XI and it was a strong and deep batting order. Sanju Samson was picked as the third wicket-keeper due to his brilliant T20I form.
“For me, number 4 will be Shreyas Iyer. Number 5 will be KL Rahul and number 6 will be Rishabh Pant. Sanju Samson should be in the squad along with his hundreds because he has scored hundreds for India. How can you ignore a man who has scored hundreds for his country? Sunil Gavaskar noted.
Ravindra Jadeja over Axar Patel
Surprisingly, both Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan insisted on batting for long. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja at No.7 and No.8. They picked Nitish Kumar Reddy as their back-up player based on his excellent test debut recently. Axar Patel did not find a place for himself in the squad.
“If you have that kind of balance, you’ll have Ravindra Jadeja at No.8 and then you’ll obviously have batting and bowling options. It’s a good batting line-up as you can see,” Pathan said.
“It’s a nice option to have a fast bowling all-rounder as your back-up. Nitish Kumar Reddy is also top notch. It’s not easy to perform in Australia, he did it,” added the former Indian all-rounder.
Bowling standings
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan chose Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav as the three bowlers in the squad. However, Pathan insisted on Mohammad Siraj as a back-up paceman.
“Muhammad Siraj will be third, if Bumrah and Shami are there, not in the playing 11, but we have to see what happens with Bumrah going forward. Hopefully the injury is not too bad,” Irfan Pathan said.
Unfortunately, all three bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav are currently suffering from injury. Kuldeep and Shami underwent surgery last year. While Shami is selected for the upcoming T20I seriesit remains to be seen how he maintains his international cricket workload.
Kuldeep, however, has not yet been able to play after undergoing groin surgery. But the biggest concern 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 game.
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan’s India Squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson (wk) , Nitish Kumar Reddy
