As each day passes, the announcement date for the Indian team for the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan draws nearer. The team was initially set to be announced by January 12, but now the “temporary team” will be revealed on January 18-19, with possible changes before February 13. Meanwhile, discussions about India’s potential squad have gained momentum, with fans and cricket legends selecting their own teams. In this context, former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan have jointly picked their Indian XI for the Champions Trophy. Both legends believe that KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant should be included in the playing XI.
In Star Sports’ show “Game Plan,” both Gavaskar and Pathan selected Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli as the top three batsmen for the Champions Trophy. However, they excluded Shubman Gill from the playing XI and placed him as a backup opener. Pathan emphasized that both KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer should be part of the middle order.
Pathan explained, “If I were to make the decision, I would consider which batsman has performed better recently. KL Rahul had a solid World Cup performance. As for Shreyas Iyer, given his performance in the World Cup, he deserves support. In the past few months, KL Rahul has not received the support he needed. I would certainly back both of them for the Champions Trophy.”
Gavaskar and Pathan’s Middle Order Picks
Both Gavaskar and Pathan agreed on Shreyas Iyer for number four, KL Rahul for number five, and Rishabh Pant for number six. Gavaskar said, “For number four, I choose Shreyas Iyer, Rahul will be at five, and Rishabh Pant at six. Sanju Samson recently scored a century, so he should also be included in the team. How can you overlook a player who has scored a century for the country?”
Gavaskar also mentioned, “Suryakumar Yadav does not make it into my team because his record is more suited to T20 cricket. While he is excellent in T20s, he hasn’t played Test cricket yet.”
Sunil Gavaskar and Irfan Pathan pick their Indian squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025! 🇮🇳🏆
Would you make any changes to the lineup? 🤔📝#India #RohitSharma #ChampionsTrophy #Sportskeeda pic.twitter.com/YIpJGkibCC
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) January 13, 2025
Surprising Exclusion of Spin-Bowling All-rounders
It was surprising to see the exclusions of Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, who are often seen as key players in head coach Gautam Gambhir’s plans. Especially given that the UAE pitches are known to be favourable for spinners, the absence of a spinner all-rounder in the team raised some eyebrows.
Selected Squad for the Champions Trophy
The team jointly selected by Gavaskar and Pathan for the Champions Trophy is as follows:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson, Mohammed Siraj, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
