Former batting coach Sanjay Bangar has named India’s playing XI for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 match against Bangladesh. Sanjay Bangar has selected Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah as his opening batsmen, assuming both are fit and available, with Mohammed Shami as the back-rower.

Mohammed Shami had a right heel problem in the 2023 ODI World Cup. After the race, he underwent surgery and took a year off to recover. He missed major events like the home Test series against England, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the IPL, and the T20 World Cup. Shami is now fully recovered.

Mohammed Shami Is Not My Founder – Sanjay Bangar

In an interview on Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues’, Sanjay Bangar chose to play his favorite XI for the match against Bangladesh. He added that if both Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah are fit, Mohammed Shami may be left out of the playing XI.

“You remove one of the fast bowlers. If Arshdeep and Bumrah are both there, then you can leave someone like Shami. So for me, Shami is not a starter,” Bangar said.

After showing his dominance in Bengal cricket, Shami was included in the squad for the five-match T20I against England. He has also been included in the list of 15 people who play popular sports. India will play their first match against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai.

Rishabh Pant May Be Benched – Sanjay Bangar

The former Indian batsman said that neither Ravindra Jadeja nor Axar Patel will make it to the final XI. Bangar confirmed that Rishabh Pant could be on the bench for India’s Champions Trophy 2025 opener.

“Then one between Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel is one wicketkeeper. So in this case, Rishabh Pant can be on the bench,” Bangar said.

“My XI would be Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh,” he said.

Fit and Ready to Play – Sanjay Bangar

During the interview, Sanjay Bangar said that Ajit Agarkar was sure that Mohammed Shami is tough. Bangar also said that India’s bowling attack looks stronger with the return of Shami, along with Kuldeep Yadav. He also highlighted Shami’s efforts in all three formats for his home team.

“Bowling looks very good with Shami at the back and Kuldeep at the back. Shami, all you know, was working from one form to another, the way he played three forms for his home team,” he said.

“So it shows that, for a long time, he’s been training and he’s ready to bowl the overs that he needs to fire really hard. So he has to play a lot of games from the first game against England, and the more games he plays, the better he is, because that’s the history. it reflects Mohammed Shami,” Bangar thought.

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