"Strength of India’s 50 over team isn’t even picked" - Former cricketer’s strong statement on India playing 11 vs Bangladesh in 2025 Champions Trophy
Former England captain Michael Vaughan is in awe of the depth of Indian cricket after Rishabh Pant was left out of the side's playing XI in their 2025 Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh on Thursday, February 20. Senior batter KL Rahul was preferred for the wicketkeeper's spot by the Indian think tank.
Vaughan opined that the Men in Blue have so many options to choose from that they can even afford to bench Pant. Hailing the southpaw as the "strength of India's 50 over team", the cricketer-turned-commentator wrote on the microblogging platform X:
"The strength of India’s 50 over team is @RishabhPant17 isn’t even picked !!!! Incredible amount of depth in Indian cricket .."
Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first against India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Here are the two playing XIs for the 2025 Champions Trophy fixture:
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman
Rishabh Pant was benched throughout India's three-match ODI series against England ahead of 2025 Champions Trophy
Rishabh Pant has just one ODI appearance to his name since making a return to international cricket at the 2024 T20 World Cup. The left-handed batter scored six runs off nine balls in the third ODI of India's three-match away series against Sri Lanka in August 2024.
His previous ODI match dates back to November 30, 2022. The 27-year-old was benched in all three games of India's recently concluded home series against England ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ahead of the ICC event, India head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed that KL Rahul will remain the side's first-choice keeper-batter. He said at the post-match presentation after the England series (via The Times of India):
"KL is our No. 1 wicketkeeper, and this is what I can say at the moment. Rishabh Pant will get his chance, but, at the moment, it is KL who has done well, and we cannot play two wicketkeeper-batters."
KL Rahul registered scores of 2 and 10 in the first two ODIs against England. He finished the series with an impressive 40-run knock in the final contest. India completed a stunning 3-0 whitewash over the visitors.