Former India wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik felt that India have overcrowded with spin options in their Champions Trophy 2025 squad as they gear up for their first match against Bangladesh on Thursday in Dubai.
India had named Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jasprit Bumrah in their preliminary squad for the showpiece event but dropped the duo in their final 15-player squad. Bumrah’s absence was unavoidable due to a back injury he suffered during the Sydney Test in the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
Jaiswal made his ODI debut against England in Nagpur, but the Mumbai opener had to make way for Varun Chakravarthy who was mighty impressive on his India comeback with 14 wickets from five matches in the T20I series which India won 4-1.
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India already had the likes of Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja who are all premier spin options. Karthik expressed surprise for adding Varun into the mix by putting Jaiswal in the non-travelling reserves list along with Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube.
“Five spinners, I personally feel, is a bit too much. They could have done with 4, I felt. And that’s where I do think it shows a little bit of, not confusion, which is probably a strong word, but not being very sure of what exactly to do because they announced a squad and then they added another spinner for an opener,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
India are likely to play three spinners with left-handed allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel being the fixtures and alternating between Kuldeep Yadav and Varun depending on the opposition.
Karthik, who has been sympathetic towards Mohammed Siraj being snubbed for the main squad, felt that Harshit Rana being picked up as Bumrah’s replacement is justified after his performance in the series against England. Rana made his ODI debut in the recent home series and claimed six wickets from three matches at an average of 24.
“Look, if you had to go with experience, then yes, Siraj could have been the ideal choice, but I thought Harshit bowled very well against England. What I feel is the Indian camp is very impressed with Harshit Rana. I think Harshit Rana was the debate, but I feel Team India backs him right now more than Siraj,” Karthik said on the Hyderabad pacer’s demotion to the stand-by list.
India will face arch-rivals Pakistan on February 23, Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium in their second Group A clash.
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