5 Indian players who deserve a spot in the ICC Champions Trophy squad
With India officially confirming that they will take part in ICC Champions Trophy, next on the agenda is the squad for the tournament. Virat Kohli will lead the side in his first major ICC tournament after being given the captaincy across all formats.
The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni are certainties in the squad and the form of the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in IPL 2017 have only strengthened their case. There are others, however, who are in great form and have represented the country earlier as well, who deserve a chance.
Extra Cover: ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Probable Indian Squad
Here are 5 Indian players who deserve a spot in the ICC Champions Trophy squad:
Manish Pandey
With the return of Yuvraj Singh and the emergence of Kedar Jadhav as an explosive middle-order batsman who can also turn his arm over, Manish Pandey has almost been forgotten. The 27-year-old averages nearly 45 in ODIs and despite an impressive start to his ODI career, he hasn’t played one in 2017.
His performances for KKR in IPL 2017 highlights just how good he is in the middle-order. Capable of accelerating at the end and also constructing an inning, the Karnataka-born batsman is the ideal player to have in the middle-order.
Although India have plenty of depth in that department with the likes of Dhoni, Yuvraj and Jadhav in the side, you can never have too many in-form players and that is why Pandey deserves a recall after being axed due to poor form.