Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has once again shared his opinion on India's Champions Trophy 2025 squad that was announced by BCCI. The squad was announced by Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar in the presence of skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday, January 18.
The squad sees the return of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah into the Indian ODI squad for the tournament. Bumrah's availability is subject to his fitness. The Indian pacer is currently rested from the T20I series against England due to back injury issues. He is expected to be fit in time for the multi-team tournament.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh recently spoke about India's team selection for the Champions Trophy. He was disappointed on Karun Nair not getting a place in the side. He spoke out against it extensively.
Now he has thrown his support behind Yuzvendra Chahal who is out of the Indian squad since August 2023. He played his last ODI for India in January 2023. Since then he is nowhere close to making a comeback in the Indian ODI squad. Chahal was part of India's T20 World Cup squad but did not get a game.
“Sanju isn’t there. Yuzvendra Chahal isn’t there, too. “You’ve picked four spinners, two of them are left-armers. You could’ve included a leg-spinner for variation, too. Chahal is a superb bowler. I don’t know what wrong he did, that he doesn’t fit in this team,” Harbhajan said.
Harbhajan Singh Unhappy With India's Spin Combination
Harbhajan said that picking three spinners and Chahal not getting a place in the side was disappointing. The squad has four spinners in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav. Three of the spinners are all-rounders with good batting potential as well. Thus the management has given recognition to the batting depth they bring into the squad as well.
Unfortunately, Yuzvendra Chahal is going through a rough patch in his personal life as well. The management might have seen that as a hindrance to his selection as well.
India are in Group A in the Champions Trophy and begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, after which they play Pakistan on February 23, and New Zealand on March 2.
India Squad For Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja
