India at Champions Trophy: 2017 vs 2025 Squad Comparison

India’s Squad for Champions Trophy 2017

India’s 2017 Champions Trophy squad was an amalgamation of hard-hitting and conventional cricketers. The likes of Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav were playing their first ICC event, led by Virat Kohli.

• Openers: Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma
• Middle Order: Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey
• All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuvraj Singh
• Spinner: Ravichandran Ashwin, 
• Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar Mohammed Shami

Key Highlights:

• Rohit Sharma was promoted from middle order batter to an opener overnight in Champions Trophy 2013. He combined with Dhawan and scored the highest opening partnership in the event - 178* against Bangladesh in 2017.
• This was the first ICC event where Kohli was leading the team.
• The spotlight was on Yuvraj Singh who made a resounding comeback to the international cricket and was playing his last ICC event. 
• The team was bolstered with pace attack and lack of all-rounders costed them the batting depth in the final agains Pakistan.

India’s Squad for Champions Trophy 2025

The India 2025 squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 will see the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Arshdeep Singh enter with low ODI exposure. But the team has managed to retain experience in the form of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.

Here is the squad:

• Openers: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal
• Middle Order: Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant
• All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel
• Spinner: Kuldeep Yadav
• Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami

Key Highlights:

• Rohit Sharma played with freedom when Gill opened with him in World Cup 2023. The India captain might want to replicate the same alongside his young partner.
• India have a great quartet of all-rounders in the form of Hardik, Washington, Axar and Jadeja, providing immense options and batting depth.
• Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer held the middle order tight in World Cup 2023 and the management will hope the same from them two years later.
• Jasprit Bumrah’s injury is a concern but Shami, who wreaked havoc in World Cup 2023 with a record 24 wickets in seven matches, is a certain asset. 
• Arshdeep Singh has proved his mettle in bowling in different phases of the game. He complimented Hardik and Bumrah well in crucial T20 World Cup 2024. The team has continued with the trio. 

2017 vs 2025: What’s Changed?

Only five players from the last Champions Trophy have been included in India's squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy.#CT2025 pic.twitter.com/S8OEsIU29m

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) January 18, 2025

Leadership:

2017: Virat Kohli led the team as captain, taking over from MS Dhoni.

2025: Rohit Sharma will lead the team after clinching the T20 World Cup in 2024 and dream run in the 2023 ODI World Cup, which eventually ended in a heartbreak.

Opening Pair:

2017: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan formed a dominant partnership at the top of the order.

2025: Shubman has an average of 58 in the format and has been go-to choice for Rohit to open with, unless team wants a right and left combination and try Jaiswal, who has not played a ODI yet.

Middle Order Evolution:

2017: MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh provided experience and reliability.

2025: Shreyas Iyer scored more than 500 runs in World Cup 2023 and Virat Kohli was Player of the Series. One may expect some brilliant innings from the duo in the middle order, with resistant KL Rahul to provide cushioning.

Bowling Attack:

2017: Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar formed a deadly combination.

2025: The pace attack will rely heavy on Bumrah and Shami with Arshdeep as the death-over specialist in case Bumrah could not make it. India will also depend on Hardik Pandya's seam bowling.

Spin Department:

2017: Ashwin and Jadeja were the main spinners.

2025: Kuldeep, Jadeja, Washington and Axar provide an option of trading a spinner with a spinning all-rounder. According to the pitch and the opposition, the give plethora of variety of leg spin, off spin and some left-arm off-spin.