Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and Irrfan Pathan The Indian squad has been selected for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Surprisingly, both of them decided to select veteran Ravindra Jadeja Axar Patel In the squad.

Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan also gave a big surprise when they selected Yashasvi Jaiswal to play alongside Rohit Sharma. Both of them agreed to keep Shubman Gill as the team’s backup opener rather than including him in the first-choice XI.

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Sunil Gavaskar, Irfan Pathan pick India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025

During a discussion on Star Sports’ Game Plan, Sunil Gavaskar and Irrfan Pathan agreed to let Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Koh Lee becomes the top three in India. The duo picked Shreyas Iyer because of his impressive performances in recent ODIs and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

“If I were sitting there, I would say who has performed very well in the recent past. KL Rahul had a fantastic 50-over World Cup. Shreyas Iyer – the kind of ODI World Cup he played in, I think he needs some support .He has not received such support in the past few months and I will definitely support these two for the Champions Trophy,” said Irrfan Pathan.

When asked about the wicketkeeping, both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were picked in the starting XI, making it a strong and deep batting order. Sanju Samson has been chosen as the third wicketkeeper due to his excellent T20I form.

“For me, No. 4 will be Shreyas Iyer. No. 5 will be KL Rahul and No. 6 will be Rishabh Pant. Sanju Samson has scored hundreds of goals and he has to be in the team because he has played for India How can you ignore someone who has scored hundreds of goals for his country?” Sunil Gavaskar pointed out.

Ravindra Jadeja defeated Axar Patel

Surprisingly, both Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan have stuck with Hardik Pandya Ravindra Jadeja ranked 7th and 8th. They have chosen Nitish Kumar Reddy as the backup all-rounder as he has performed well in Tests recently. Axar Patel did not find a place in the team.

“If you have that balance, you’re going to see Ravindra Jadeja at No. 8 and then obviously you have batting and bowling options. It’s a good batting line-up that you’re going to see ,” Pathan observed.

“Having a fast bowling all-rounder as your backup is a good option. Nitish Kumar Reddy is also at a very high level. It’s not easy to perform in Australia but he did it,” the added the former India all-rounder.

Bowling Lineup

Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan pick Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep ·Kuldeep Yadav as the three bowlers of the team. Pathan, however, insisted on using Mohammad Siraj as the backup fast bowler.

“If Bumrah and Shami are available, Mohammad Siraj will be the third man and will not be in the starting XI, but we have to see what happens with Bumrah in the future. We hope the injury is not that serious, ” said Irrfan Pathan.

Unfortunately, all three bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav are currently dealing with injury issues . Kuldeep and Shami underwent surgeries last year. And Shami has been selected for the upcoming T20Is seriesit remains to be seen how he maintains the workload in international cricket.

Meanwhile, Kuldeep is yet to return to action after undergoing surgery on the groin area. The most worrying one, however, is Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah suffered a side strain during the Sydney Test against Australia and there has been no update on his fitness since that match.

The Indian team led by Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan competes in the 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