Dinesh Karthik drops a massive statement on why Shubman Gill will open alongside Rohit Sharma in the ICC Champions Trophy

The Indian men’s cricket team is to travel to Dubai next month to participate in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Pakistan is hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, but due to strained political relations between the two countries, India will not tour Pakistan and will play its matches in Dubai. On Saturday, January 18, the Indian selection committee met in Mumbai to pick the Indian squad for the eight-team tournament. Young Indian opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is yet to play a 50-over match for the Men in Blue, was included in the squad. The great performance of Jaiswal in international cricket made him a very feasible candidate in contention for the playing XI, but he has stiff competition from Shubman Gill, a fellow player with an impressive record in ODIs.

Many people and fans feel that Jaiswal should be an opener for the Rohit Sharma-led side as he is a left-handed batter, but former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is certain that Gill is to open and that the 25-year-old right-handed batsman from Punjab will play all around.

Karthik believes that by naming Gill as India’s vice-captain for the ICC tournament, the BCCI selectors let him play for sure in the playing XI.

“As Shubman Gill has been appointed as the Vice captain So he will be opening in this Champions Trophy,” Karthik said during an episode of Cribuzz’s HeyCBwithDK show.

When asked about his opinion on India’s squad for the eight-team ICC event, where he played a vital role as both a member of the T20 World Cup-winning team in 2007 and the 2013 Champions Trophy, he replied that it would have been better to include another fast bowler instead of one from either Ravindra Jadeja or Axar Patel, as both are left-arm spinning-bowling all-rounders and lower middle-order batters.

“I really feel strongly about one thing. Could there have been a fast bowler instead of two left-hand spinning all-rounders? I reckon it was hard for them to choose which one to take. That was the only thing. If it could have been Harshit (Rana) or Siraj as the next fast bowler? That’s the only point. Other than that, I think they’ve picked a fair squad. I thought Varun Chakravarthy would be there, but they’ve gone for Kuldeep Yadav, fair enough.”