Exclusive: India announce squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025; Shubman Gill back as vice-captain; Bumrah and Shami return

The much-awaited announcement has been made, and the Indian selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, has revealed the Indian squad that will feature in the coming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The meeting was held in Mumbai, which included Indian captain Rohit Sharma as well.

There were some important decisions made, but the biggest one was who will be in the squad. Rohit Sharma will lead the team, and Shubman Gill will be the vice-captain of the side. Notably, Gill was removed from this role earlier, but he is back again.

The squad is similar as expected. Selectors have chosen all the senior faces, and India will head into the mega event with proven faces. There was news of the unavailability of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah due to injury, but both are included in the Indian squad.

Rohit Sharma to lead the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

The 15-member announced squad is pretty similar to the one that played in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Rohit, Gill, and Virat Kohli will be in the top order. Yashavi Jaiswal has been included as the backup opener. The Southpaw has been scoring runs in the other formats for India.

Apart from him, the batting unit has KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant. Rahul and Pant are two keeping options while Iyer made his comeback to the team after some good performances in the domestic circuit. Unfortunately, Sanju Samson couldn't make it to the cut.

Hardik Pandya will be the seam-bowling all-rounder along with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as two spin all-rounders. Kuldeep Yadav is also part of the squad, who is at the NCA for his rehab and has shown good signs of recovery. The pace bowling unit wil be led by Bumrah and Shami, while Arshdeep Singh has been included in the team.

The big name missing is Mohammed Siraj, who was in India's ODI World Cup squad. But Siraj has lacked consistency in recent times, whcih might be the reason for his exit. Meanwhile, the same team will play ODIs in England. The only change will be Harshit Rana in England ODIs, as Bumrah might not take the field as he is recovering from his injury.

India's Squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025

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

Also Read: Most Runs in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy (Top 10)