The season for the Champions Trophy has arrived, and the Indian team led by Rohit Sharma is ready to depart for the tournament, taking place in Dubai in 2025.
The ICC Champions Trophy will feature in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19, with India being placed in Group A of the eight-team tournament.
All matches of the Indian cricket team in Group A, as per the agreement, will be played in Dubai International Stadium, whereas other matches will be in Pakistan.
With less than a week to go and the ODI series against England winding down, the Indian team has set out towards its next assignment after being sighted checking into the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai ahead of their flight to Dubai.
#WATCH | Mumbai: The first batch of the Indian Cricket team departs for Dubai to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy.
— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2025
All matches of Team India will be held in Dubai, while the rest will take place in Pakistan. The ICC Champions Trophy will begin on February 19 and will… pic.twitter.com/C4VdRPddyn
Sources suggested that the Indian team would depart in two batches for the tournament. But following the new directives in travel policies that the BCCI handed out last month, the team is now expected to travel together for all trips abroad.
India’s team, however, is not at full strength with the exclusion from the squad of star performer Jasprit Bumrah due to a lower back injury sustained upon captaining India in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney.
Without any doubt, Bumrah was India’s best bowler, and his absence is a massive blow to the Indian team as he was a match winner in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Fast-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana made up for Bumrah’s absence, while wrist-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has also been included in the squad at the cost of Yashasvi Jaiswal, another member of the provisional team.
The two-time ICT champions will start their chase for a third title, when it faces Bangladesh on February 20, followed by a high-octane clash against Pakistan on February 23. The Men in Blue will then round off their Group A campaign against New Zealand on March 2.
India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy.
