Sanjay Bangar, the former India batting coach, does not see either Mohammed Shami or Rishabh Pant in his preferred Indian XI for the northern factor of what will be the 2025 Champions Trophy. He goes on to see India possibly playing only two pacers throughout this tournament. At the next level: Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are ahead of Shami.
On Saturday, India announced a 15-member squad for the multi-nation tournament. Shami, Bumrah and Arshdeep were the only pace options as the team’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs since 2022, Mohammed Siraj, was left out. Shami is returning from a long injury hiatus that had kept him from playing since late 2023.
“If both are available, you are in a position to leave someone like Shami out,” said Bangar on Star Sports. “In that case, the choice would be between Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, or a reserve wicketkeeper, which means Rishabh Pant may sit out or be on the bench.”
Bangar was also required to weigh in on the idea that Shami’s fitness has been somewhat solid in the view of chief selector Ajit Agarkar, considering he had to play this in domestic engagements over the last six months.
He even had to skip the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to get his fitness level back up; he will now work his way back into the white-ball series against England, which starts on January 22.
“The bowling looks really, really good with Shami back and Kuldeep back. Shami, for all you know, has been working from one format to the other format, wherein he has played across three formats for his domestic team,” Bangar said.
“This is clearly the sign that, over a period of time, he has gained fitness and is ready to bowl the number of over that are to be bowled at high intensity. Thus he should be playing from the very first game against England, and the more games he plays, the easier it will be for him, because that’s all that history suggests about Mohammed Shami,” he said.
India’s Champions Trophy campaign will kickstart against Bangladesh on February 20, 2025.
Bangar's playing 11: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
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