Last Updated:
Both Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant don’t find a place in Sanjay Bangar’s India 11 for 2025 Champions Trophy.
Mohammed Shami last featured in Indian colours during the 2023 ODI World Cup final. (Image: Sportzpics)
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar doesn’t see Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant in his preferred Indian 11 for the 2025 Champions Trophy. He thinks India will need to start only two pacers in most games in the tournament, for which Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are ahead of Shami.
India announced their 15-member squad for the multi-nation tournament on Saturday. Shami, Bumrah and Arshdeep were the only pace options as Mohammed Siraj, the team’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs since 2022, was left out. Shami is returning after a long injury layoff which kept him out since late 2023.
“You eliminate one of the fast bowlers. If Arshdeep and Bumrah are both available, then you can afford to leave out somebody like a Shami. So for me, Shami is not a starter,” Bangar said on Star Sports. “Then one between Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and one reserve wicketkeeper. So in this case, Rishabh Pant may be on the benches.”
Bangar was also asked to comment on chief selector Ajit Agarkar’s confidence in Shami’s fitness, which he has developed by playing domestic cricket across formats in the past six months.
He even had to miss the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to get back to full fitness and will now make a comeback in the upcoming white-ball series against England, which begins on January 22.
“The bowling looks really, really good with Shami back and Kuldeep back. Shami, for all you know, was working from one format to the other format, wherein he has played across three formats for his domestic team,” Bangar said.
“It is a clear indication that, over a period of time, he has gained fitness and is ready to bowl the number of overs that are required to be bowled with high intensity. So he should be playing most of the games right from the first game against England, and the more games that he plays, the better he gets, because that’s what history suggests about Mohammed Shami,” he added.
India’s 2025 Champions Trophy campaign will start on February 20 against Bangladesh.
Sanjay Bangar’s Prefered India 11
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
