Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami's Inclusion Major Talking Points From India's Champions Trophy 2025 Squad Selection

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have both been included in the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy 2025. The squad was announced on Saturday, January 18.

Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma presided over the press conference in Mumbai. Rohit was retained as the captain for the Champions Trophy despite his poor show in the Test series against Australia.

The 15-member squad has a few interesting selections as well with Yashasvi Jaiswal included as well as Shreyas Iyer. Meanwhile, despite his rich vein of form, Karun Nair was ignored once again from selection.

After missing the England T20I series, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul have been included as the two keepers in the side. Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are the four spinners included. The BCCI seeked an extension from the ICC to ensure they had Bumrah at least available for selection.

Jasprit Bumrah's Selection Conditional To His Recovery

Among the many talking points from the Indian squad named for the tournament, the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami is the biggest talking point. Bumrah injured his back in the Test series against Australia and was almost ruled out of selection from the Champions trophy.

However, his last-minute selections bolsters the Indian pace attack for the tournament. Mohammed Shami too will now officially make a comeback into the Indian ODI side for the first time since 2023 ODI World Cup. Before the Champions Trophy, he will play the in the T20I series against England. Shami has been bowling fast in domestic cricket for Bengal and will make his much-awaited return.

Meanwhile, Cricbbuzz has reported that Bumrah's selection is conditional to how he recovers from his back injury that kept him out from the final two days of the Sydney Test. He bowled over 150 overs in the Test series and picked up 32 wickets, the most by an Indian bowler against Australia in Tests. The BCCI can make changes to their squad till February 13 and hence many more changes are possible in the squad.

Bumrah, Shami along with Arshdeep Singh makes India's pace attack one of the most potent one in the tournament. India will be playing all their matches in Dubai, a venue where all these players have played a lot of cricket. Hence all the players are well acquainted with the conditions.

Team India kick off their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 followed by Pakistan (February 23) and New Zealand (March 2). If India makes it to the final, they will be most likely playing the game in Dubai.

India squad for the Champions Trophy: 

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah*, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal