Indian captain Rohit Sharma has expressed confidence in his team’s balance and preparation ahead of their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh on February 20 9today).
Addressing the media in a pre-match press conference in Dubai on Wednesday, Rohit also acknowledged the contributions of Pakistan-born net bowlers, who assisted India in their training sessions.
“The bowlers were really good; two of them were Pakistani, and our team has praised their bowling.”
When asked about India being labelled a “spin-heavy” side, the Indian skipper downplayed the tag, emphasizing that they have two spinners while three others are all-rounders.
“We have two spinners and three all-rounders. I am not looking at them as five spinners. Jadeja, Axar, Washi give us a lot of depth. If a team has fast bowling all-rounder we don’t say five or six pacers in a squad,” Rohit explained.
The right-hander also expressed excitement about the return of the Champions Trophy after an eight-year break.
He further backed the Indian team’s approach for the Champions Trophy while acknowledging the fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s absence.
“We will play this tournament as we have played any other tournament. Playing for India means a lot to all of us. There will be times when you will miss certain players, but we have depth in our squad,” he said.
Rohit Sharma stated the importance of adopting the conditions in Dubai and backed his team in doing well.
“We are assessing the conditions here; if it’s overcast tomorrow, we have the arsenal to play according to the conditions,” said the opener.
India’s Champions Trophy 2025 Squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.