ICC Champions Trophy 2017: 15-member Indian squad announced; Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma make cut, Gambhir, Pant miss out

The BCCI selectors on Monday picked up the 15-member Indian squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy to be held from June 1 in England. It is notable that BCCI had missed the cut-off date for announcing the squad set by the International Cricket Council. The ongoing row between the ICC and the Indian cricket board over the new revenue model was cited to be the main reason behind BCCI not adhering to the deadline for naming the squad. There were speculations that BCCI might even contemplate of pulling out of the multi-nation tournament

The team shall be led by Virat Kohli who once again shall be the spearhead of the Indian batting.The batting unit look solid with a lot of experience in Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, MS Dhoni shall resume his wicket-taking duties for the 'Men in Blue'. 

Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have made a comeback to the Indian team. Meanwhile the selectors have picked up a pace heavy side considering the fact that the tournament will be played on seam friendly English conditions. The squad has five frontline pacers in Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah. Ace off-spinner R Ashwin shall spearhead the spin attack along with allrounder Ravindra Jadeja.

The selectors have gone for experience rather than youth who have perfomed well in the ongoing IPL.Delhi lad Rishabh Pant who has been the phenomenal in this IPL has been a touch unlucky to miss out.

Here is India' s 15-member Champions Trophy Squad - Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey and Jasprit Bumrah

Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik put on standby

#WATCH: BCCI selection committee addressing media in Delhi https://t.co/b7NAVFQj2x

— ANI (@ANI_news) May 8, 2017