Six players from the 2017 squad have made it to the 2025 squad for the Champions Trophy
The cricket fraternity is only a few weeks away from the ICC Champions Trophy, a tournament loved by cricket-playing nations but has not been consistent. In fact, the last edition was played eight years ago, which left a bitter taste in the hearts and minds of the Indian cricket fans, given that India lost the final by 180 runs at the hands of PAK.
Eight years later, India, with a partially fresh squad, is hoping to get its revenge over PAK. In fact, not only revenge, but the Men in Blue are aiming to increase their title tally, which currently stands at two, sharing the number with Australia.
Speaking about the squad, we mentioned the word ‘partial’ because six players from the 2017 squad have made it to the 2025 squad.
In 2017, Virat Kohli was the captain of the squad, but this time, it’s Rohit Sharma with Kohli in the squad. Others from the 2017 roster include Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja. Even though India lost the tourney, Rohit Sharma was the second-highest run-scorer of the 2017 edition.
Several players from the 2017 Champions Trophy Indian squad have already bid adieu to their professional cricket careers. The first name is obviously Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who retired from international cricket in 2020, having left Test in 2014 and ODI in 2019.
Last year, Shikhar Dhawan retired from the game, who, by the way, was the highest run-scorer of the 2017 Champions Trophy. Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, and Kedar Jadhav have bid goodbye to their careers. Even Ravichandran Ashwin left the game last year in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
When it comes to active international players who have not found a place in the 2025 squad, the list comprises Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Umesh Yadav.
These four players have yet to bid goodbye to their international careers, but given that they have not played international matches recently, it seems that, to some extent, their careers are over.
For the record, Umesh Yadav’s last ODI was in 2018, whereas Pandey played his last ODI in 2021. Kumar's last ODI took place in 2022, whereas Rahane last played an ODI in 2018. In short, these players were not in contention for the tournament squad, and it is highly unlikely that they will ever get another chance to don the Indian jersey.
Here’s what India’s squad for the upcoming tournament looks like:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja.
