SYDNEY: India have lost seven out of their last eight Tests and now the focus will soon shift to white-ball action with the upcoming bilateral series versus England and then the 2025 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. Indian players are expected to leave for home soon and the senior selection committee will enter huddle mode to pick the squads for England T20Is, ODIs and the Champions Trophy.
Chairman Ajit Agarkar has been in Australia with the Test squad but he, along with coach Gautam Gambhir, will be starting discussions on the white-ball assignments. It is understood that all teams need to pick their provisional 15-member squad by January 12 but they are allowed to make changes until February 13. The tournament begins on February 19.
“All teams need to submit their provisional squads by January 12 but (are) allowed to make changes till February 13. It is up to the teams whether they want to announce the squad or not as the International Cricket Council (ICC) will release the submitted squads only on February 13,” said an ICC official.
All Champions Trophy-bound players are likely to feature in the three ODIs against England before the multi-nation tournament and Jasprit Bumrah could be the only exception.
India’s last 50-over assignment was against Sri Lanka in August last year. Then, India played three ODIs with the XI featuring all seniors, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
As things stand, Rohit is certain to lead the side in the UAE and will have Bumrah as his deputy if there are no major fitness concerns. Plenty of white-ball specialists like Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh will be back in the mix, too, and the selectors will have have a happy headache with the problem of plenty on their table.
Shreyas and Hardik have been playing domestic cricket for their respective states and the former has been in phenomenal touch with the bat, across formats. Hardik, too, looked dangerous with the bat in the T20Is and has played three List A games for Baroda in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.