Mumbai: After a lot of drama, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, to be played in England and Wales from June 1, on Monday.
The 15-man party, captained by Virat Kohli, includes comeback men Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami. There were no new faces from the team that played their last ODIs against England back in January 2017.
The deadline for naming the squad was scheduled for April 25, but International Cicket Council’s (ICC) decision to cut down on BCCI’s revenue and alteration of the governance process in a meeting almost jeopardized India’s chances of participating in the biennial tournament .
Mumbai batsman Sharma, who recovered from a thigh injury he suffered during the Tests against England last year, has replaced injured opener KL Rahul. Rahul has been ruled out for a shoulder injury.
Manish Pandey’s IPL form seems to have been given preference as he was retained despite not being part of the playing XI in the three ODIs against England. Without any surprise, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be the wicket-keeper in the side.
“We definitely considered the name of Kuldeep. He would have been a surprise package but whether we would have played with two spinners is a question. Since Yuvraj (Singh) and Kedar (Jadhav) can bowl spin, he narrowly missed out,” chief selector MSK Prasad said after the selection committee meeting.
The Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Manish Pandey.