'What a messy selection': India's Champions Trophy squad rejected by fans

In what comes as a major blow the Indian cricket team, the Rohit Sharma-led side will play the Champions Trophy 2025 without star pacer Jasprit Bumrah. The fast-bowler who is rated as best across all three formats was removed from the squad after BCCI announced the final list of players on Tuesday. Bumrah last played in the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Sydney. However, while his absence comes a major blow for the side, the fans questioned the management's choice of replacement.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and his committee opted for the relatively inexperienced Harshit Rana over Mohammed Siraj, who featured in every match of India’s 2023 ODI World Cup campaign. Siraj was instead named as a traveling reserve. Indications that Rana was ahead in the pecking order emerged when captain Rohit Sharma subtly mentioned his name during last month’s squad announcement press conference.

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Additionally, India decided to drop opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in favor of spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, despite already having four spin options in the squad. As a result, India’s 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy now includes five spinners—Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar—while their pace attack consists of only three specialist fast bowlers—Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshit Rana—alongside seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya.