India’s Champions Trophy squad: Mohammed Shami, Rohit Sharma return; no place for Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma

An inform Manish Pandey finds a place in Virat Kohli-led side while Suresh Raina fails to make a comeback.

As expected Virat Kohli leads the side while MS Dhoni continues to take up wicketkeeping duties.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced the 15-man Indian squad, which will take part in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy. The squad is as follows: Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah & Manish Pandey. (Photos: Meet India’s 15-man Champions Trophy squad)

The only surprise inclusion is that of Manish Pandey but considering his form it is not much of a wonder. Pandey has been performing consistently at the top-level and in the current IPL season has been in sublime form.

Meanwhile, the team announcement comes after the BCCI cleared the Indian team’s participation in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in its Special General Meeting on Sunday.

More than two weeks after missing the April 25 deadline set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) the BCCI finally revealed the squad which will defend its title this year. As expected Virat Kohli leads the side and looking to the future the BCCI went ahead with picking up Manish Pandey instead of Suresh Raina or Gautam Gambhir.

#CT #TeamIndia – Virat (C), Shikhar, Rohit, Rahane, MSD (wk), Yuvraj, Kedar, Hardik, Ashwin, Jadeja, Shami, Umesh, Bhuvi, Bumrah & Manish pic.twitter.com/pQOgpO9JNf

— BCCI (@BCCI) 8 May 2017

The BCCI was mostly expected to stay with the squad which won the ODI series against England. Opener Rohit Sharma, despite not being in the best of form since his return from a thigh injury, will be opening the batting with Shikhar Dhawan who had a good outing in the last edition of the tournament. India will open their Group B campaign against rivals Pakistan on June 4 at Edgbaston.

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