Explained: Why BCCI Will Delay Their Champions Trophy Squad Announcement

The BCCI is reportedly set to breach ICC's deadline for announcing their Champions Trophy squad. The deadline to announce the squad was on February 12. However, the BCCI by all means is expected to delay the announcement.

After the debacle in the recently concluded five-match Test series against Australia, where India lost 1-3, many tough calls are likely to be made in terms of squad selection. Some bold calls are likely to be taken, though the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are set to be picked in the 50-over squad against England.

Usually, the ICC asks the participating countries to submit their names one month prior, but this time they asked to submit the list five weeks before. The provisional Champions Trophy squad in all likelihood will feature the players from the three-match ODI series against England. 

Reason Revealed Behind BCCI's Delay

Moreover, the ODI squad picked for the England side will almost resemble the squad that will be picked for the Champions Trophy. Thus the series might be seen as a dress rehearsal for the players who will be picked to play the three-match series.

Talking about Champions Trophy 2025, the tournament will be played in Pakistan from February 19. Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi are the three venues along with Dubai. Team India will play their matches in Dubai after PCB have agreed to the hybrid model. Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament having won the title in 2017.

While India might delay announcing their Champions Trophy squad, they might announce the T20I squad against England on Sunday. The series opens up the opportunity to experiment with the squad. It is expected that the management will pick young players who have made a big impact in the IPL. Thus the IPL performances will be taken into account for their selection.

India's T20I squad for England might be almost similar to the squad that played the last T20I series against South Africa in November. The squad will be led by India's newly appointed skipper Suryakumar Yadav.