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A 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 has been announced on Monday. The BCCI Selection Committee kept almost the same team for the Champions Trophy which played against England in the last ODI series. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were recalled for the marquee tournament. Earlier, they were given break from the England series. The Selection Committee head MSK Prasad said this is a “balanced side”.
Alongside a 15-man squad, five players are in stand-by list. Considering youngsters’ domestic and IPL performance, selectors picked up wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, fast bowler Shardul Thakur, batsman Suresh Raina and wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik.
India are the defending champion of the tournament. They won it in 2013 in England. Also read: India’s 15-man squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2017 announced
The Selection Committee didn’t give much importance to the Indian Premier League (IPL) while selecting the team. Selection Committee Chief MSK Prasad was asked why the IPL performance was not given much importance. “IPL is our one of the most important domestic tournament, we respect IPL, but when it comes to longer format like Champions Trophy we consider IPL performance and performance in one year,” Prasad said.
Meanwhile, there is a concern regarding Ashwin’s selection as he is yet to recover from his injury.
In the last Champions Trophy, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin played a crucial role for Team India. He had taken eight wickets at an average of 22.62. “Ashwin’s selection was not a difficult decision. He’s had rest, isn’t out of form. We’ve been preparing him for the Champions Trophy” said Prasad. Also read: Rising Pune Supergiant, Gujarat Lions not to get contract extension for IPL 2018, says Rajeev Shukla
However, selection of Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinbkya Rahane raised eyebrows as they failed to come up with any impressive innings in the last couple of ODI series. Talking about the opening pair MSK Prasad, said, “Rohit Sharma and Dhawan will be India’s first choice opener pair while Rahane will play the role of the backup opener.”
Meanwhile, 19-year-old Rishabh Pant, who had amassed 972 runs at an average of 81 to go with an astonishing strike rate of 107 in the 2016-17 Ranji season, wasn’t included in the squad.
“We are completely impressed with Rishabh Pant. But he missed out because of squad combination. We will groom him for the future,” noted Prasad. The former wicketkeeper-batsman also pointed out that the selectors had pondered over whether to select Kuldeep Yadav, the slow left-arm unorthodox bowler, who he said: “missed out narrowly”.
When Prasad was asked about MS Dhoni, he said “he is still the best wicketkeeper in the world. Not many people realize that in the last 10 to 15 years that he has been playing for the country, he has never had a bad day with the wicketkeeping gloves.”
Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami will form a formidable pace attack. While Shami hasn’t played an ODI since the World Cup 2015 semifinal, Bhuvneshwar is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL with 21 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 14.47 and an economy rate of under 7.
India will play the first match against Pakistan on June 4.
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