Team India announced the squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on Saturday as skipper Rohit Sharma and selection committee chairman Ajith Agarkar named the 15 players set to represent the national side at the marquee event slated to begin in February.

The Men In Blue were handed a boost thanks to the return of star pacer Mohammed Shami, who returns to competitive action following a prolonged period on the sidelines due to injury-related issues.

Shami was also added to the Indian squad to take on England ahead of the ICC spectacle as Agarkar and Rohit commended the incredible ability of the seamer, who hasn’t donned the famous blue Indian kit since his appearance in the final of the ODI World Cup.

“You don’t have to talk about quality when it comes to Shami,” Agarkar said.

“We picked him for T20Is just to get him up to speed with the rigours of ODIs,” the 47-year-old added.

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“His fitness had nothing to do with white-ball cricket. We tried to take him to Australia,” Agarkar added.

However, Shami was sorely missed at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which India surrendered down under. The speedster got upto pace with his showing in domestic cricket.

“Shami is a stalwart,” Rohit echoed Agarkar’s opinion.

The Indian pace unit includes headliner Jasprit Bumrah, southpaw Arshdeep Singh in addition to Shami to the ICC CT, while Harshit Rana will stand in for Bumrah for the England series.

“Arshdeep has the experience and Harshit has the potential,” said Rohit justifying the additions of the seamers over Mohammed Siraj who was committed from both squads.

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Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025:

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

Indian squad for the England series:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja