Indian selection committee led by chief selector Ajit Agarkar has finally announced their squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, starting on February 19. With this, wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, who missed out on the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup squad after his life-threatning accident, is finally back in the 50-overs squad for the upcoming ICC tournament in Pakistan and the UAE. Apart from that, India’s highest wicket-taker Mohammed Shami in the last ODI World Cup is back in the squad for the upcoming tournament. However, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Bangar has benched both Shami and Pant from his playing XI for the Champions Trophy.

Sanjay Bangar feels that Mohammed Shami won’t find a place in the playing XI if both Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah are fit to play. "If Arshdeep and Bumrah are both available, you can afford to omit one of the fast bowlers, such as Shami.. In my opinion, Shami doesn’t make the starting XI," Bangar was quoted as saying by CricTracker. 

Rishabh Pant might not make the cut: Sanjay Bangar

Speaking further, Sanjay Bangar also explained the reason for not picking Rishabh Pant in his playing for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Bangar has included both Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja in his XI, and said that Pant couldn’t make a place in this scenario. 

"Then, you have to choose between Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, and include one reserve wicketkeeper. In this scenario, Rishabh Pant might not make the cut," Bangar said. "My ideal lineup would be Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer,Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya,Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kuldeep Yadav," he added.

Indian squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington, Kuldeep Yadav, Bumrah, Shami, Arshdeep, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja.