Poor selection? Aakash Chopra slams BCCI for adding five spinners to Champions Trophy squad

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has expressed dissatisfaction with the Indian team management and the selection for the Champions Trophy 2025. He advised the management not to drop Kuldeep Yadav in favour of Varun Chakravarthy.

India finalised their squad for the tournament on February 11, adding Varun Chakravarthy in place of Yashasvi Jaiswal. With this change, India now has five spinners in their squad for the tournament, which will be held in Dubai. Varun had previously replaced Kuldeep in the second ODI in Cuttack.

After the squad announcement, Chopra shared his concerns on X, saying, "India has picked five spinners for the Champions Trophy. FIVE. Sharjah would be an ideal venue for this squad. Spin To Win. Dubai?? Not so sure. That surface hasn't helped spinners as much...ever. Also, I really hope that Kuldeep isn't benched for Varun. Play both if you must...but Kuldeep has to be India's premier spinner."

Kuldeep Yadav has been a key player for India in recent ICC tournaments. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, he took 15 wickets in 11 matches, making him India's fourth-highest wicket-taker as the team reached the final.

He performed even better in the 2024 T20 World Cup, picking up 10 wickets in just five matches and finishing as India's fourth-highest wicket-taker again.

Indian squad includes Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakaravarthy.

The Champions Trophy is scheduled in Pakistan and UAE from February 19 to March 9.

India will play all their matches in Dubai and Sharjah.