Bumrah, Jaiswal and Kuldeep picked in India’s Champions Trophy squad

Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav have been named in India’s provisional 15-man squad for the Champions Trophy, which begins on February 19.

The same squad will take on England in three ODIs in early February, with Harshit Rana coming into the set-up as back-up for Bumrah, who may not be ready for the first two matches of the bilateral series.

There were injury concerns over both Bumrah and Kuldeep ahead of the selection on Saturday, with Kuldeep not having played any competitive cricket since his hernia surgery in November, while Bumrah had suffered a stress-related injury during the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Kuldeep has been building up his bowling load at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and is understood to be bowling 10-12 overs at a go.

The 15-man squad will be led by Rohit Sharma, with Shubman Gill as his vice-captain, and also includes Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was picked for the first time in ODIs. He is likely to be the reserve opener for the Champions Trophy.

With Virat Kohli the No. 3, the middle order has the same look as the squad for the 2023 ODI World Cup with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul retaining their spots, along with allrounders Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

Apart from Rahul, Rishabh Pant is the other wicketkeeper in the 15, preferred ahead of Sanju Samson who did not take part in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy. Washington Sundar is the fourth allrounder in the squad, which includes only four specialist bowlers.

Mohammed Shami, who was recently named in the T20I squad for the upcoming home series against England following a long injury layoff, was also named in the Champions Trophy squad.

He last played international cricket at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets.

Mohammed Siraj did not find a place in the 15, with the left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh earning a spot after finishing as the highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and impressive performances in international cricket – he was the top wicket-taker in India’s ODI series in South Africa in 2023.

The final squad for the Champions Trophy must be submitted to the ICC by February 11.

India play three bilateral ODIs against England on February 6, 9 and 12 – their first 50-over games since the tour of Sri Lanka in August last year – before the Champions Trophy. India are in Group A in the Champions Trophy and begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, after which they play Pakistan on February 23, and New Zealand on March 2.

India play all their matches in Dubai because their government refused to let the team travel to Pakistan. (ESPNcricinfo) 

India squad for Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja