After months of dissipation over India’s participation in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, the cricket board today announced the 15-member squad for the event, starting June 1.
While no major changes have been made in the squad which enjoyed a successful 2016-17 home season, the selectors have decided to back the experienced Ajinkya Rahane over youngster Rishabh Pant.
Manish Pandey and Mohammad Shami have also been successful to make it to the 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy which will be played in England.
Manish last played for India against New Zealand in October 2016. On the other hand, Shami’s last ODI was a World Cup semi-final in 2015.
With KL Rahul out of contention, recovering post-surgery, the BCCI appears to have played it safe in picking out of form Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan as the two openers.
Rohit, after recovering from a thigh injury he sustained during the Test series against England last year, has replaced opener K L Rahul, who has been laid low by a shoulder injury.
On the other hand, left-handed batsmen Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir continue to abstain from the team.
Defending champions India will open their campaign against Pakistan on June 4 at Edgbaston.
Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik are the stand-by players for the ICC Champions Trophy.
Here is the fifteen-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy which will be led by skipper Virat Kohli:
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Mohammed Shami
