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Varun Chakaravarthy has been in red-hot form these days. In his last 10 international matches for India across formats, the 33-year-old spinner has picked up 27 wickets.
India’s likely playing XI for Champions Trophy 2025 match against Pakistan. (Picture Credit: PTI)
India will face Pakistan in the second Group A match of the Champions Trophy 2025 on Sunday, February 23. For the match scheduled to take place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the India team management could make one change to the playing XI from the one that took the field against Bangladesh at the same venue on Thursday, February 20. 33-year-old mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, who made his ODI debut against England in Cuttack on February 9, 2025, could come in place of Kuldeep Yadav.
Kuldeep played the first match against Bangladesh on Thursday but was not able to take any wickets in his quota of 10 overs and conceded 43 runs. Kuldeep, who has 12 wickets to his name in six ODIs played so far against Pakistan, is a very high-quality bowler, but Chakaravarthy is a man in form, and his mystery spin could pose a serious challenge to Pakistani batters who struggled to score runs in the tournament’s opener played against New Zealand at the batting-friendly track of National Stadium in Karachi on Wednesday.
Apart from that, India is unlikely to make any changes to the playing XI unless there is any injury concern, which as of now has not been reported.
In the high-voltage match against Pakistan, India will have high expectations from world No. 1 ODI batter Shubman Gill. Gill has scored two centuries in his last two ODIs for India, and the 25-year-old cricketer from Punjab would like to complete a hat trick of hundreds. In addition to him, captain Rohit Sharma, who has 873 runs to his name in 19 ODIs against Pakistan, and batting superstar Virat Kohli (678 runs in 16 matches) would also like to come up with a big show with the bat.
In the bowling, the onus will once again be on Mohammed Shami. Shami picked up five wickets for 53 runs in his first-ever Champions Trophy match for Men in Blue, and the 34-year-old fast bowler will be eager to repeat the same show against Pakistan as well. By taking three wickets in the match against Bangladesh, Harshit Rana justified his selection in the playing XI, and the cricketer from Delhi is likely to retain his place.
India’s likely playing XI for the Champions Trophy 2025 match against Pakistan: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, and Varun Chakaravarthy.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
