India Confirm Squad for Champions Trophy

8 May 2017 | Cricket
Virat Kohli will lead India in the defence of their Champions Trophy in England and Wales from 1-18 June.

Opener Rohit Sharma, fast bowler Mohammed Shami and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin all return after recovering from injury.

Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and stylish left-hander Yuvraj Singh are also in the 15-man squad.
India won the previous edition of the one-day tournament, beating England by five runs in the final in 2013.

The squad was announced the day after India's cricket board temporarily set aside its differences over revenue sharing with the sport's international governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had missed a deadline to name a squad but said on Sunday said it "unanimously decided that the Indian cricket team will participate".

India have taken part at every ICC Champions Trophy, and have lifted the trophy twice – once after winning the 2013 final against England and the other time as co-champions as they shared the title with Sri Lanka in 2002.
As a team, they hold a whole host of Champions Trophy records, while several their players top the ranks of many record lists.

As we quickly approach the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 in England and Wales, we put together some of India’s stats from tournaments gone by and found out who their key men have been at the ICC Champions Trophy…
•    In terms of appearances, former captain Rahul Dravid leads the way with 19 games at the tournament.
•    It’s another former captain who has knocked the most runs for India at the tournament - Sourav Ganguly racking up 665 runs at the ICC Champions Trophy.
•    141 of Ganguly’s runs at the tournament came in his splendid unbeaten innings against South Africa in 2000 – the joint-highest individual score by an Indian at the ICC Champions Trophy. The other score of 141 was hit by Sachin Tendulkar against Australia in 1998.
•    Added to his record of most runs and joint-highest score, Ganguly also has the most centuries by an Indian (3) and joint most scores of 50+, with six, alongside Dravid.
•    A member of the current India squad - Shikar Dhawan - has the highest average for the side at the ICC Champions Trophy. He has racked up 363 runs in five innings (including two centuries and a fifty) at an extraordinary average of 90.75.
•    All 363 of Dwahan’s runs at the tournament came at the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 - the most runs recorded by an Indian batsman at a single edition of the competition.
•    Yet more records with Ganguly’s name next to them are most sixes at the ICC Champions Trophy (17) and most sixes for India in an innings (six vs South Africa in 2000).
•    Ganguly was also part of the highest partnership for India at the tournament as he shared 192 with Virender Sehwag against England in 2002.
•    With the ball, Zaheer Khan leads the way with most wickets taken for India with 15.
•    Only three behind Zaheer is Ravi Jadeja on 12 wickets, all of which came at the 2013 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy – the most wickets in a single edition by an Indian bowler.
•    Jadeja also recorded India’s best figures and only five-for at the ICC Champions Trophy with his 5 for 36 against West Indies in 2013.
•    The record for best bowling average goes to Ramesh Powar, who took three wickets for 24 runs at the tournament at an average of 8. He also has the best strike rate of any Indian (16).
•    Former captain MS Dhoni is the most prolific wicket-keeper for India at the ICC Champions Trophy, with 15 dismissals behind the stumps – seven more than second best Rahul Dravid
•    In the field it’s another record for Ganguly, who’s taken the most catches (12).

India squad: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (captain), Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami

The ICC Champions Trophy 1-18 June will see the best of the best compete in Cardiff this summer. Tickets availalbe at icc-cricket.com/tickets