The Board of Control for Cricket In India (BCCI) on Saturday fiunally announced Team India's provisional 15-member squad for next month's Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan and Dubai.
Jasprit Bumrah who is nursing an injury has been named in India's squad while spinner Kuldeep Yadav is also set to return after picking up a groin issue in October.Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has represented India in tests and T20 matches, is in line for his One-Day International (ODI) debut after receiving his maiden call-up in the format.
Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who was left out of the squad for this month's T20 series against England, was also named in the squad by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday.
Bumrah, the highest wicket-taker in the recent test series with Australia which India lost 3-1, had back spasms during the final test in Sydney which forced him out of the match midway through.
Fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who is set to return in the T20 series against England after an ankle injury that required surgery kept him out for more than a year, remains in the squad for the eight-team, 50-over competition.
"You don’t have to talk about quality when it comes to Shami. We picked him for T20Is just to get him up to speed," Ajit Agarkar told reporters. India, placed in Group A, begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on Feb. 20.
Top-order batter Shubman Gill has been appointed as the vice-captain of the squad that had did not have place for pacer Mohammed Siraj.Rohit Sharma, who will lead the side against England in the CT, explained the rationale behind selecting Bumrah with an asterisk against his name.
"Experience, it's only Siraj who's not there. But that's purely because we thought of it. We're not sure about Bumrah, whether he's going to play or not. We wanted to pick a squad where we have options of both, somebody to bowl with the new ball and somebody to bowl at the back end," said Rohit in the press meet to announce the squads.
Rohit hoped that seasoned pacer Shami and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh will support Bumrah, or step in the eventuality of him missing the tournament. "Obviously, with Bumrah missing, we're not sure. We wanted Arshdeep to come and play that role of bowling at the back end and Shami, obviously we saw what he did with the new ball (in the World Cup 2023 and during the recent domestic matches)." Shami is returning to the ODI set up for the first time since the 2023 World Cup, and the pacer has done well in the domestic matches (Ranji Trophy, SMAT and VHT), even though he is yet to hit the peak rhythm.
"Arshdeep hasn't played a lot of ODIs but he's been around the white-ball circuit for a long time. I don't feel so uncomfortable saying that he's not experienced."He has bowled some tough overs in white-ball cricket. I definitely think he can handle that pressure and Shami is a stalwart of white-ball cricket and what he did recently in the (ODI) World Cup was superb to watch,” he added.
Rohit termed Siraj unfortunate to miss out on the selection and said his reduced effect with the old ball played a part in it. "Siraj's effectiveness comes down a little bit if he's not going to take the new ball. We discussed it at length and we are only taking three seamers there (CT) because we wanted all the all-rounders with us.
"It's an unfortunate thing that he (Siraj) has to miss out but we had no option but to get the guys who can perform a certain role,” he said.
Hardik Pandya will lead that list and the pace-bowling all-rounder will be back to ODIs for the first time after the 2023 World Cup when he limped out during the match against Bangladesh with an ankle injury.
Others are experienced Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, the two left-arm spinners, and off-spinner Washington Sundar.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice captain), 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.
*With Agency Inputs
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