Team India's squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy, as well as the preceding ODI series against England, was announced at a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday. Indian captain Rohit Sharma and BCCI selectors chairman Ajit Agarkar addressed the media after a delay of over two hours. Pacer Mohammed Shami has made a comeback to the ODI squad for the first time after the 50-over World Cup in 2023. Meanwhile, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was also included in the squad despite injury concerns.
However, Bumrah “will not be available for the first two ODIs against England”, Harshit Rana is quoted as saying.
Despite amassing over 700 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Vidarbha captain Karun Nair did not find a place in the team.
Nair's purple patch with the bat saw him score 752 runs in seven matches. Agarkar opened up after Nair's exclusion from the team.
“Someone gets an average of 700+, those are special achievements. At the moment it is difficult to find a place in this team,” said Agarkar.
Nair is the best run-getter in the team so far, having amassed a whopping 752 runs in seven matches at a mind-boggling average of 752.00 as he was unbeaten in six innings. He also scored five centuries and a fifty in the competition, with his best score being 163*. His strike rate is 125.96.
He will get a chance to add to that tally as Vidarbha is currently taking on Karnataka in the final of the tournament.
Indian squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardil Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal , Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana (English series only).
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