Picture Credit: X

Picture Credit: X

With less than a month left for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, national selector Ajit Agarkar along with skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday, January 18 announced 15-member squad for the marquee tournament. While the side named Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, both of whom have been struggling with their respective injuries, Yuzvendra Chahal was once again snubbed of a place.

Notably, India named a spin-heavy squad where they included the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja. However, wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was nowhere to be seen after last featuring in the 50-over format in January 2023 during the New Zealand series.

Harbhajan Singh points out Yuzvendra Chahal’s exclusion in India’s Champions Trophy squad

This gesture of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not rest well with the former Indian spinner and legend Harbhajan Singh. The 44-year-old opined that Chahal could have been added to bring in variety to the spin attack as Jadeja and Axar Patel are of a similar kind. “Sanju isn't there. Yuzvendra Chahal isn't there, too. You've picked four spinners, two of them are left-armers. You could've included a leg-spinner for variation, too. Chahal is a superb bowler. I don't know what wrong he did, that he doesn't fit in this team,” Harbhajan told Switch.

It is to be noted in 72 ODI matches Chahal has played so far, the 34-year-old has picked 121 wickets at an average of 27.13 and an economy of 5.26. He was included in the squad for the T20 World Cup, but was benched for the entire tournament. Coming back to Harbhajan Singh, the Indian veteran did not stop here as he also emphasised on the selection committee dropping Sanju Samson, who has numbers to back himself.

“Truly, I feel bad for him. He scores runs but he is dropped. I know you can only select 15, but I feel his batting suits the format. He has an average of 55-56, but he isn't even there as a second wicketkeeper. When we talk about selecting him, people ask, in whose place? Places can be made,” he added.

India’s squad for ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.