India At ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Full Schedule, Venue, Squad And All You Need To Know

The ninth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy is set to begin on Feb. 19 with hosts Pakistan playing against New Zealand in the tournament opener in Karachi.

The Indian team, who will be playing all its matches in Dubai, made its touchdown in the city on Saturday, hoping to bag the ICC Champions Trophy, for the second time since 2013.

India had last won the ICC marquee event in England 12 years back under the legendary MS Dhoni.

The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will open its campaign against Bangladesh on Feb. 20 before facing traditional rivals Pakistan on Feb. 23 and then the Men in Blue will take on New Zealand on March 2 to round off their league engagements.

The confidence of the fans and the team has been boosted by India's recent 3-0 ODI series whitewash at home over England.

Here's everything that you need to know about the Indian team at the much-awaited tournament:

• India vs Bangladesh: Feb. 19, Dubai

• India vs Pakistan: Feb. 23, Dubai

• India vs New Zealand: Mar. 2, Dubai

*All matches will start at 2:30 p.m. IST

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

Non-travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. The three players will travel to Dubai as and when required.

Few months ago, Hardik Pandya had walked out with the T20 World Cup trophy hoisted on his shoulders to join a sea of passionate fans on the streets near the Wankhede Stadium for an open bus parade.

If those scenes are to be repeated next month, then India will need some runs from Rohit and Kohli, who have copped heavy criticism after repeated failures in Test cricket.

But they replied in kind, as Rohit made a characteristically fluent hundred — a 90-ball 119 in Cuttack ODI against England — and Kohli his 73rd fifty in Ahmedabad.

This might have brought them a temporary relief but a productive outing in the Champions Trophy is mandatory in the context of the duo's future in top-flight cricket.

With the emphasis firmly on hitting the next World Test Championship cycle from June and building a team for the 2027 50-over World Cup the Ajit Agarkar-chaired selection panel will closely observe how the two veterans fare in Dubai.

Kohli needs 37 runs to become the third batter ever in ODI history to make 14,000 runs while Rohit is only 12 runs away from becoming the 10th batter to complete 11,000 runs. But without a trophy, those numbers will lose some heaviness around them.

A big promotion came young Shubman Gill's way when he was named the ODI vice-captain, and the batter who averages nearly 61 in the format will be keen to stamp his authority with a fruitful outing in the Champions Trophy.

The injury-enforced absence of Bumrah is an opportunity for the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, while Varun Chakravarthy would want to prove himself as the surprise strike weapon.

A coming together of all these factors will determine whether India will touch back in Mumbai as a boisterous winning group sometime next month. Till then fans can immerse themselves in joyous optimism.

(With PTI inputs)