Rohit Sharma backs India's spin-heavy strategy for ICC Champions Trophy 2025

There has been a lot of scrutiny on every move India makes following the horrid end to their Test season. Picking apart every detail is now a given as the team sets into action for the all-important ICC Champions Trophy. With Jasprit Bumrah unavailable, India's bowling department for the ICC ODI tournament already appears a bit shaky. Amid efforts to form a reliable pace attack, the Indian management has included five spinners in their 15-member squad for the tournament. With India playing all its fixtures in Dubai, the move comes off as rather rash on the part of the 2013 champions. However, in his latest interaction, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has stood firmly by this decision.

Rohit Sharma expresses confidence in India squad ahead of ICC Champions Trophy opener against England

India will enter the ICC Champions Trophy on the back of a splendid 3-0 series win over England. The white-ball series showcased the mastery of spinners, especially Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy. However, since those fixtures were played at home, it remains uncertain whether the success will translate when conditions change in Dubai. 

With Varun Chakravarthy being a late addition to their plans, India's squad now includes Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Kuldeep Yadav alongside Chakravarthy. In the pace department, the lineup appears slightly risky, with the inexperienced Harshit Rana teaming up with Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami. Cricket pundits have heavily criticized the management's decision-making, questioning the inclusion of so many spin options.

However, Rohit Sharma doesn’t see it that way. While everyone views the lineup as having five spinners, Sharma considers it a combination of two spinners and three all-rounders. Strongly defending this move, Sharma pointed out that no other team has faced such scrutiny for playing two spinners in a game. In his statement on the eve of the Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh, Sharma expressed confidence in the chosen squad, praising Chakravarthy for his recent performances.

"There are two spinners, and the other three are all-rounders, so I am not looking at them as five spinners, those three guys can bat and can bowl also," Rohit said. "In the rest of the teams, the fast bowlers are all-rounders, so they say that they have taken six fast bowlers, which is good, but we play to our strength (spin)," Rohit added.

"Jadeja, Axar, Washy, give us a different dimension to our squad and add a lot to this team and give us a lot of depth, that is why we wanted to try and get the players who can have two skills rather than one skill," the skipper further elaborated.