India announced their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad at the BCCI Headquarters in Mumbai on Saturday. There are plenty of talking points after the 15-member India squad was picked for the Champions Trophy. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar addressed these issues:

Jasprit Bumrah's return is vital for India's success in the Champions Trophy. However, due to health issues, he will likely miss the group stage next month. Bumrah suffered back spasms during the recent Sydney Test against Australia and did not bowl on the final day at SCG. However, the Agarkar-led selection panel included the 31-year-old in the squads for the home ODIs against England and the marquee event.

However, a BCCI source said that Bumrah should be fully fit by the first week of March. He will then go to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for rehabilitation. The initial report states that he doesn't have a fracture but swelling in his back. The NCA will monitor his recovery for three weeks. After that, he must play one or two matches, even practice games, to check his match fitness.

There were many question marks over the selection of Mohammed Shami due to concerns around his road to recovery, during which he faced several hurdles. However, Agarkar reassured fans that Shami was chosen for his experience and ability to perform well in critical moments. Shami is returning to the ODI set-up for the first time since the 2023 World Cup, and the pacer has done well in the domestic matches (Ranji Trophy, SMAT and VHT), even though he is yet to hit the peak rhythm.

India have relied on a clutch of all-rounders to make an impact. Hardik Pandya will lead that list and the pace-bowling all-rounder will be back to ODIs for the first time after the 2023 World Cup when he limped out during the match against Bangladesh with an ankle injury. Others are experienced Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, the two left-arm spinners, and off-spinner Washington Sundar.

4. Who will be the first-choice wicketkeeper?

The debate over who will wear the gloves for India in the Champions Trophy was resolved. Rishabh Pant has played a lone one-day match in the last two years, against Sri Lanka last year, after coming back from the accident, but the selectors have decided to give him the mantle of the first-choice wicketkeeper batter. Sanju Samson did not feature in any of the squads despite doing well against South Africa recently. He had made a hundred against the Proteas at Paarl late last year. But Samson did not attend Kerala’s Vijay Hazare Trophy camp, and the subsequent non-selection for the domestic tournament went against him.

Karun Nair's exploits in the Vijay Hazare Trophy have been "nothing short of extraordinary" - as batting legend Sachin Tendulkar described. Nair has been scoring heavily, averaging a mind-boggling 752 in seven innings after amassing 752 runs with five centuries and one fifty. But sadly, even this much was not enough for him to get through. Chief Selector Agarkar praised Karun Nair for his Vijay Hazare Trophy performance but said it is difficult to “fit in everyone in the team.” “Averaging 750+ is simply insane, but it's a squad of 15, so we can't fit everyone,” he said.

Another decision has been the exclusion of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Chakravarthy, known for his unorthodox deliveries, hasn't been a regular fixture on the Indian team but has been impressed in domestic and franchise cricket.

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