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With the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 less than a week away, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra shared his insights with respect to the Indian cricket team. The former Indian cricketer’s opinions came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, January 11 announced the updated Indian squad.
In the notable move, star Indian spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out from the marquee tournament despite completing his rehabilitation, he was replaced by Harshit Rana. In another move, the men’s selection snubbed Yashasvi Jaiswal of a place from the 15-member squad and added another spinner in Varun Chakravarthy.
Champions Trophy 2025 will be Kohli, Rohit and Jadeja’s last ICC event: Aakash Chopra
Speaking on his YouTube channel ahead of the ICC event, Aakash Chopra opined that the upcoming tournament could be last ICC event for the Indian veterans, including Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. "I am saying with a heavy heart... There is a strong possibility. The Champions Trophy is about to happen and after that, there will be another ICC event this year, which is the WTC (World Test Championship) final and we haven't reached there. So none among Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja will play that," Chopra said.
"After that, the ICC event next year is the T20 World Cup but all three have retired from that format. So all three won't play there as well. The ODI World Cup will be in 2027, which is a bit too far. The world will look very different by 2027. I think the players also feel this could be their last," he added.
It is to be noted that the Indian trio announced retirement from T20Is after India’s title at the T20 World Cup 2024. The decision from Chopra came given their age and career trajectories and he feels it would be unrealistic for them to aim for 2027 ODI World Cup.
India’s squad for ICC 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
