The ICC Champions Trophy tour has landed in India, and we got to see a stunning view of the trophy at the Gateway of India in Mumbai. It looked absolutely beautiful and the trophy was super iconic there. Now, let's get to the point—India has announced its squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy tournament. What do you think, can India win with this squad? Yes or no? Share your opinion! If India does win, who do you think will be the standout performer? Just my thoughts!
Australia is the top favorite to win the ICC Champions Trophy, with Pakistan as the second favorite since they're the host nation. Anyway, let's move on and talk about India. There are a lot of memories tied to the ICC Champions Trophy, and India is the most successful team in this tournament. They were joint winners with Sri Lanka in the 2002 Champions Trophy because the match ended without a result due to rain. Then, in 2013, India won the title for the second time, making them the most successful team overall. Now, about the 2013 Champions Trophy...
It was such an interesting match, remember? And Shikhar Dhawan's batting in the Champions Trophy was amazing! Recently, he tweeted that the Champions Trophy holds a special place in his heart. Back in 2013, he was on a golden run, and he played brilliantly for India in that tournament. The batsmen were incredible, and Shikhar Dhawan, especially in ODIs, was such a classy and outstanding player. He really showcased some aggressive strokes while batting for India.
The player’s cut, pull, and cover drive were really impressive, and he was super aggressive. You might remember that match when England was almost winning; they just needed 20 runs, and nobody could have imagined how that seemingly secure victory would turn into a loss at the last moment with crucial wickets falling. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy was top-notch there. The England players cracked under pressure. By the way, you call it a "choker," right? New Zealand folks and others too. Pakistan chokes a lot as well; they’re a choking team too. Let me tell you, when it comes to the big ICC events...
In events, winning matches often leads to losses, and England is one of those teams. They’ve just won two titles recently, but before that, they kept messing up in their history. Whenever they made it to the big finals, they would choke and lose. They would get to the later stages of tournaments, only to falter at the crucial moments. Just look at how many times they’ve reached the semifinals or finals and then got knocked out. This has been their history. If you go back to 1975, you’ll see they’ve pulled off this stunt many times. It happened again recently in the Champions Trophy when they fell apart at the last moment against Dhoni.
"His captaincy and bowling were impressive and changed the game, but the players getting nervous in a match they had already won is another thing. There are two perspectives: one from the bowlers' side and the other from the batting side. The outcome of the match can completely flip at the last moment, and thanks to Dhoni's brilliant captaincy, India clinches the win. It proves that you can't predict a cricket game until the last delivery. And after 2013, India became the champions again in 2017."
He makes it to the finals but gets a humiliating defeat at the hands of Pakistan. So far, Pakistan has become the biggest defending champion because there was a decision to shut down the ICC Champions Trophy in between, but then they decided to revive it. Now there’s been almost an eight-year gap, and Pakistan has been the longest defending champion. And now, in 2025, India announced their squad, and there were two big shocking pieces of news: one was Sanju Samson not being included, and the other was Siraj's absence.
India understands better what works and what doesn't, but they've totally sidelined Siraj. Even though he bowled really well in the 2023 World Cup, maybe they think his form isn't great right now. And then there's Sanju Samson, who showed a lot of improvement last year. It seemed like he matured and started scoring centuries. But now, at a big ICC tournament, he’s been overlooked. It looks like India is playing it safe with their choices.
There are safe players who are tried and tested, providing stability, like Virat, Rohit, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant. So, the team has leaned more towards these settled players compared to a few who could be surprise factors. There are players who could be game changers, but they might also flop. For example, Surya Kumar Yadav—I agree he hasn’t quite cracked the code in ODI cricket yet.
"How can you run the game like he does in T20? And Sanju Samson was really rising up. I think one of them should have been the X-factor player. You know, those players who change the game. Take Shreyas Iyer, for example; he's a solid player, a good player. But the X-factor you get from someone like Sanju Samson is different. Shreyas Iyer provides stability, but these X-factor players bring that spark. Anyway, it's the selectors’ choice, and time will tell which selection was right and which one was wrong. But what do you think?"
"How long are we waiting for the Champions Trophy to come to your city?
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