Former India cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan picked their India squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. In a big surprise, both of them decided to pick the veteran allrounder Ravindra Jadeja over Axar Patel in the squad.
Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan also sprung a big surprise when they chose Yashasvi Jaiswal to open alongside Rohit Sharma in the tournament. Both of them agreed to have Shubman Gill as the backup opener in the side rather than including 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 Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’, Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan agreed to have Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli as India’s top three. The duo picked Shreyas Iyer due to his excellent batting form in recent ODIs and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“If I am sitting there I will say who has done really well in the recent past. KL Rahul had a fantastic 50-over World Cup. Shreyas Iyer – the kind of ODI World Cup he had, I think he needed some backing. In the last few months, he has not got that backing. I will definitely back these two guys to be there in the Champions Trophy,” Irfan Pathan said.
When asked about the wicketkeepers, both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were picked in the first-choice Playing XI making it a strong and deep batting order. Sanju Samson was chosen as the third wicketkeeper due to his bright T20I form.
“No. 4 for me will be Shreyas Iyer. No. 5 will be KL Rahul and No. 6 will be Rishabh Pant. Sanju Samson, with the hundreds he has scored, has to be in the squad because he has scored hundreds for India. How can you ignore somebody who is scoring hundreds for his country?” Sunil Gavaskar noted.
Ravindra Jadeja over Axar Patel
Surprisingly, both Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan insisted on having a long batting line-up with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja at No. 7 and No. 8. They picked Nitish Kumar Reddy as back-up allrounder on the basis of his excellent Test debut recently. Axar Patel didn’t find a place in the squad.
“If you have this kind of balance, you will have Ravindra Jadeja at No. 8 and then obviously you have batting and bowling options. This is as good a batting line-up as you will see,” Pathan observed.
“Having a fast-bowling all-rounder as your backup is a wonderful option. Nitish Kumar Reddy is on a high also. Not easy to perform in Australia, he has done that,” the former India all-rounder added.
Bowling line-up
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan picked Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav as the three bowlers in the squad. However, Pathan insisted on having Mohammed Siraj as the backup fast bowler.
“Mohammed Siraj will be the third one, not in the playing XI if Bumrah and Shami are available but we have got to see what happens with Bumrah going forward. We hope that the injury is not that severe,” Irfan Pathan said.
Unfortunately, all three bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav have injury concerns at the moment. Kuldeep and Shami had surgeries last year. While Shami has been selected for the upcoming T20I series, it remains to be seen how he maintains the workload of international cricket.
Kuldeep, meanwhile, is yet to get back on the field after his surgery in the groin area. However, the biggest concern will be of 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