We asked AI to pick India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad, it came up with some surprising choices
India and Pakistan are the only two sides not to announce their provisional squads for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, which will the played from February 19 to March 9. While the ICC had reportedly set January 12 as the deadline for all eight participating nations to name their preliminary squads, India have delayed the announcement owing to fitness concerns over a couple of their key players.
In the meantime, there has been plenty of debate over what should be Team India's squad for the ODI event. As per some reports, the selectors might not opt for Sanju Samson despite the fact that he scored a hundred in the last one-day match he played for India in December 2023. Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel are apparently set to get the nod ahead of the Kerala stumper.
Some reports have claimed that Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi could be in contention for one of the slow bowler slots. Meanwhile, few experts have also backed the inclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who's yet to make his ODI debut. In the wake of the debate, we asked ChatGPT to pick India's 15-member squad for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. Here's what the AI chatbot came up with:
ChatGPT picks Team India's 15-member 2025 Champions Trophy squad
The AI chatbot suggested a 'likely 15-member squad based on the current form of Indian players, their performances in recent tournaments and general team composition'.
ChatGPT picked Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul as the top-order batters. While naming Rohit as captain, it described Rahul as a player who can bat at multiple positions, offering flexibility and experience.
The AI chatbot went for Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant as middle-order batters. Interestingly, Suryakumar hasn't played an ODI since the 2023 World Cup final, but ChatGPT backed him as one of the top players in limited-overs cricket. It also went for Pandya as vice-captain.
There have been some reports that Ravindra Jadeja might be axed in favor of Axar Patel, but the AI chatbot picked both all-rounders in the Men in the Blue's 15-member 2025 Champions Trophy squad.
ChatGPT went for Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh as the four fast bowling options. Surprisingly, it picked leggie Yuzvendra Chahal as the main spinner. The 34-year-old hasn't played a one-day international match since January 2023.
While explaining the rationale behind picking the 15 players, ChatGPT stated:
"This squad is balanced with a mix of experience and youthful flair, with a strong contingent of fast bowlers and spinners to handle different conditions. It also includes versatile all-rounders who can perform under pressure in varied situations."
AI-generated Team India squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal