Not Mohammed Shami! Ricky Ponting Names Ideal Replacement For Jasprit Bumrah In India's Champions Trophy Playing XI
Photo : AP
India are set to begin their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on February 20 in a match against Bangladesh in Dubai. The Men in Blue will be heading into the tournament suffering a big blow to their squad. Jasprit Bumrah, who was initially named in the squad, was later pulled out due to a lower back injury. Harshit Rana was named as his replacement in the squad. In Bumrah's absence, many have predicted Mohammed Shami to lead the pace attack. However, legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting has named the ideal replacement for Bumrah in the India playing XI for the Champions Trophy.
In an interaction with Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review, Ricky Ponting suggested that he would go with Arshdeep Singh to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the India playing XI for the Champions Trophy 2025. This is because he believes that the left-armer has a similar skill set to what Bumrah does with with the new ball and death overs.
"I would go with the left-armer and I'd go with Arshdeep (to replace Bumrah). We know how good he's been in T20 cricket and if you think about the skill set, he probably provides a similar skill set to what Bumrah does with new ball and death overs and that's what India will miss," Ponting said.
"That's taking nothing away from Harshit Rana because I think he has got a lot of talent and we know what he can do with the new ball, but I don't think his death skills are as good as what Arshdeep Singh’s are. And just that left-arm variation, someone that can bowl left-arm with a new ball and move the new ball. We know how important they are and crucial they can be, especially in big tournaments when you've got a lot of right-handers at the top. I would personally lean that way if I was India," he added.
India Squad For Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non Travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube.
Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Cricket, Sports and around the world.
