Kaif’s India squad for ICC Champions Trophy: Sanju Samson over Rishabh Pant & No Yashasvi Jaiswal

Jaiswal is yet to make an ODI, Samson hasn't played an List A match since December 2023 while Pant has played just 1 ODI in the last 25 months.

India cricket team’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, will be announced later today (January 18). All the eyes will on those 15 men selected and those who couldn’t make the cut. While most of the team is already built with the majority of the team from ODI World Cup 2023 still intact there are still some questions.

Fitness of players like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav still remains a point of concerns and hence eyeballs are there on whether they were selected and if they were, are there any fitness asterisks on them. If they move forward from them, there will questions of how prefers whom.

Some want Yashasvi Jaiswal in the team, while others mull over who should be the second wicketkeeper after KL Rahul. Mohammad Kaif, former Indian cricketer, wants Sanju Samson over Rishabh Pant in India’s 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.

Kaif, also doesn’t have Jaiswal in his team. He instead has chosen to add a fast bowler in place of him. He’s picked left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh in his squad. This means that he wants Samson to cover as an opener in case there is an injury to one of Rohit Sharma or Shubman Gill.

In his own words, Kaif thinks Samson’s isn’t as good as a wicketkeeper as Pant. However, he choose the batter form Kerala due to his recent performance with the willow. On must add that Rahul’s keeping isn’t on the same level as Pant either but his batting his invaluable.

Mohammad Kaif’s India squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah , Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami