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On Saturday, January 11, reports surfaced surrounding Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) extending a request to the International Cricket Council (ICC) to reconsider the date for teams to submit the provisional squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. However, the ICC has set January 12 as the deadline to submit the provisional squads for the marquee tournament, BCCI has cited recent commitments in Australia and requested for more time.
Although, ICC’s decision on the same is still awaited, latest developments state that this move comes seeing star Indian pacer Mohammed Shami regain full fitness. New reports have emerged stating that BCCI is waiting for a clearance on Shami’s fitness in order to name him in the squad for the Champions Trophy, which is set to be played from February 19 till March 9 in Pakistan and the UAE.
Mohammed Shami in line to return for ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025
While Shami couldn’t prove his fitness for the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, it is being reported that he is all set to be named in India’s squad for the England ODIs as well as the Champions Trophy 2025. According to a report published by Cricbuzz, Shami has either got complete clearance from the Sports Science win of the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence or is expected to get in a short time.
Moreover, Shami’s return is highly likely seeing that he has been playing white-ball cricket for a while now, having featured in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal. As per the guidelines of the ICC, all participating teams are required to submit a provisional squad at least a month prior, with the liberty to make changes later.
However, this time around, the ICC has requested the squads from all eight teams to be submitted five weeks prior to the start of the tournament, but in the latest move, the BCCI has addressed the ICC to grant some more time. It is to be noted that prior to the ICC Champions Trophy, India will play a white-ball series against England, which includes five T20Is and three ODIs.
