Sanjay Bangar picks India's best XI!

Sanjay Bangar picks India's best XI!

Photo: Collected

Sports Desk
Sports Desk

Published: 08:58 19 January 2025

The curtain will rise on the ninth edition of the Champions Trophy on February 19. India will start the tournament on the second day of the tournament, i.e. on February 20, with a match against Bangladesh. Apart from this, the high-voltage match between the two arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be played on February 23.

Meanwhile, India has announced a 15-member squad ahead of this upcoming global tournament. Star pacer Mohammed Shami has been named in that squad. However, former Indian cricketer and analyst Sanjay Bangar sees a chance for this pacer, who has been out of the team for a long time due to injury, in the XI.

Shami was India's main weapon in the last ODI World Cup. After that, he had to spend a long time off the field. However, he has already returned to field cricket. After proving himself in domestic cricket, he is waiting to return to the national team with a match against England. In the meantime, he has been called up for the Champions Trophy team. Mohammed Siraj had to be dropped to make way for him.

However, Bangalore coach and former all-rounder Sanjay Bangar does not see Shami's place in the XI in the IPL. According to him, 'If both Arshdeep and Bumrah are available, then you can leave someone like Shami. So I think Shami will not start.'

Meanwhile, he does not see Rivsh Pant and Axar Patel in the XI either. Along with this, Jaiswal also did not find a place in his XI. According to Bangar, 'One between Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and one as a reserve wicketkeeper. So in this case Pant can be on the bench.

Sanjay Bangar's Indian XI for the Champions Trophy:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.

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