Photo Credit: Facebook Photo of Harsha Bhogle, Instagram Photo of @icctrophytour
India’s official Champions Trophy squad is expected to be announced on January 18 or 19, with speculation rife about the final 15 players. While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are almost certain selections, doubts linger over Jasprit Bumrah’s availability. The star pacer is recovering from a back injury sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Reports, however, suggest Mohammed Shami is set to make his comeback after a prolonged injury absence.
Ahead of the announcement, cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle shared his version of the squad on his YouTube channel.
“I am pretty happy to go with the core of the ODI World Cup 2023. The only thing that concerns me is the extraordinary amount of attention that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have got in recent times, conversations about their future. But these two are bonafide greats in international cricket. I am going to make assumption, a sad assumption, two of India’s best bowlers Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah will not be available due to injury. If they are available you can put them in,” Bhogle said.
For the batting lineup, he included Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as openers, with Yashasvi Jaiswal as an additional option. The middle order comprises Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant, with the latter two capable of playing as pure batters.
“Hardik Pandya walks into my side at No. 8. I am going with three quicks and three spinners. At the moment, I have Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami. Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar. all three left-handers too. I can’t find a spot for Nitish Kumar Reddy in this set-up. For better wicket-taking skills, I have gone with Varun Chakravarthy as my 15th player,” Bhogle added.
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Name of Author: Cricexec Staff
