Shami, Pant to be benched in Sanjay Bangar's India Playing XI for Champions Trophy 2025

The selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, picked India's squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The event, which is set to be played in Dubai by the Men in Blue, will see Rohit Sharma lead the 15-man squad, with KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant being the designated wicketkeeping options in the mix.

Playing consecutive finals in the last two editions of the Champions Trophy, a lot has changed in the squad, and cricket pundits have started picking their best playing combinations of the Indian team for the show-piece event. Joining the discussion, former India cricketer and batting coach, Sanjay Bangar, has also put his best Playing XI of the Rohit Sharma-led side on the table, via Star Sports.

A lot of surprising picks were seen, as the cricketer-turned-commentator has decided to keep KL Rahul as the wicketkeeper-batter ahead of Rishabh Pant, while also deciding to bench Mohammed Shami and preferred Arshdeep Singh instead to make the cut, citing it as a winning combination.

According to Bangar, Rohit and Shubman Gill will open the batting, while star batter Virat Kohli holds his no. 3 spot. In the middle order, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul, and seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya see themselves find a spot in the combination. Additionally, all-rounder Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja alongside Kuldeep Yadav form the spinning trio of the Indian team, while ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh will be the only two premier pace options, leaving no room for Shami.

Also Read: ‘Fitness does not have anything to do’ - Ajit Agarkar on Shami’s inclusion in CT 2025 squad

Sanjay Bangar's India Playing XI for Champions Trophy

Notably, India were the finalists in the Champions Trophy tournament in 2017 under the captaincy of Kohli. Defending champions Pakistan, who are also one of the two hosts of this year's show-piece event, will square off against India in a high-octane spectacle on February 23.