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Following a convincing win by six wickets in their opening ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group A clash against Bangladesh, the Indian cricket team is slated to play against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on February 23. The Rohit Sharma-led team, who won the previous ICC tournament held last summer, will be aiming to knock off the defending champions Pakistan, to virtually book a place in the knockout stage of the tournament.
In this article, SportsTiger looks at India’s probable playing XI versus Pakistan for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group A match
Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill
Indian captain Rohit Sharma has been rewriting the way of taking down the bowlers in the first power play stage of an ODI game, which will be the need of the hour if the pitches in Dubai continue to provide assistance to the spinners with the old ball. Shubman Gill has been in exceptional form in ODI cricket for quite some time, and his measured hundred against Bangladesh in the opening match of the Champions Trophy helped India attain a victory, which wouldn’t have been easy otherwise.
Middle Order: Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk)
Former Indian captain Virat Kohli has been a model of consistency in ODI cricket since the beginning stages of his career, but over the past few matches, his scores haven’t been as inspiring, but he is known to step up in big match situations, and a clash against Pakistan could be one of them. Shreyas Iyer solidified his spot in the Indian ODI setup over the past couple of years with his ability to take down the bowlers from the start of the innings, and he is especially severe on the spinners in the middle overs.
KL Rahul has been a regular feature in the Indian side in ODI cricket for quite some time, not just for scoring runs quickly in the latter stages of the innings, but also keep wickets exceptionally well against the pacers and spinners alike.
All-Rounders: Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja
Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja are spin bowling all-rounders, who provide balance to the squad, but their roles in the Indian cricket team have changed in the batting side of things as Patel is often promoted up the order, while Jadeja is more of an insurance policy with the bat. Hardik Pandya has delivered match-winning performances with both bat and ball in limited-overs cricket throughout his career, which is why an opposition can never quite rest easy even if they are able to take early wickets against India.
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana
Kuldeep Yadav has been quite at his best with the ball since his return to the Indian ODI setup, but he is known to pick wickets consistently upon getting his rhythm and variations on point. Mohammed Shami’s return to the Indian cricket team happened at just the best possible time before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, and he took a five-wicket haul against Bangladesh to help them secure a vital win.
Harshit Rana, who made his debut for India in ODI cricket in recent weeks, has been among the wickets, and his bowling returns versus Bangladesh were more than promising for the team management to continue with him throughout the tournament.
