India Ace Dubai Challenge With Spin-Heavy Champions Trophy Squad

Last Updated:March 04, 2025, 11:24 IST

There were doubts over India picking up a squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 that featured plenty of spinners but three games later, the decision has been vindicated.

India banking on their spinners in the Champions Trophy. (AP Photo)

When India named their squad for the Champions Trophy 2025 on January 18, eyebrows were raised with the team management picking as many as four spin bowling options. And a few weeks later, the raised eyebrows turned into a frown when India added another spinner in Varun Chakaravarthy while dropping a specialist batter in Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The argument behind the spin-heavy squad sounded convincing: India will play all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai (as per the Hybrid Model) and it’s a venue that is known to produce pitches aiding slow bowlers.

India were without their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami was just returning from a long-term injury layoff. Allrounder Hardik Pandya, left-arm Arshdeep Singh and a greenhorn in Harshit Rana were among their pace bowling options. Given these circumstances, India’s decision to pack their squad with five spinners gave the impression of the team putting all their eggs in one basket.

Fast forward to today and the decision seems to have been vindicated with the team riding on their spinners to advance to the semifinals of the Champions Trophy and are now just a couple of wins away from securing their second ICC trophy inside 10 months.

Against Bangladesh, India played with three pacers (including an allrounder) alongside three spinners (including two allrounders). Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel combined for 28 overs between them and picked up two wickets at an economy of 4.39. This was the match in which pacer Shami dazzled with a five-for and Rana took three wickets.

Against Pakistan, India stuck to the same bowling combo and this time, the spin trio bowled a combined 26 overs and picked up five wickets at an economy of 4.96.

Now, with their semifinal spot secured after two victories and armed with the knowledge that the pitches in Dubai are slow, India added another spinner to their playing XI while benching a fast bowler for their third and final Group A clash against New Zealand.

Four spinners and two pacers – one of them a batting allrounder.

The trio expanded to a quartet.

The move paid rich dividends.

New Zealand, a team that was expected to match India’s prowess, fell prey to the mystery of Chakaravarthy who enjoyed a memorable Champions Trophy debut. The legspinner picked up a five-wicket haul to apply the squeeze on Kiwis who failed to chase down 250 and thus suffered their first defeat of the competition.

Together, Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep, Jadeja and Axar bowled nearly 38 overs between them for 166 runs while accounting for 9 wickets at an economy of just over four.

Spin Quartet To Vanquish Australia?

The mighty Australians are India’s next challenge. The team may be missing as many as five of their first-choice players for this tournament but given how they got the better of England in a Group B clash last month and the imperious manner in which they kickstarted the chase of 274 against Afghanistan before rain forced the match to be called off, take them lightly at your own peril.

Australia though have played in Pakistan where the conditions were suitable for stroke-making. Of the top 10 highest team totals of the tournament so far, 8 have been scored in Pakistan.

The highest team total for the matches played in Pakistan so far was Australia’s 356/5 against England in a high-scoring chase while the corresponding figure for the matches in Dubai is 249/9 by India against New Zealand.

While it’s often said that stats don’t show the entire picture, for Champions Trophy, this is an exception. Australia know it and therefore, will tread cautiously.

As former India head coach Ravi Shastri said, the semifinal is the right time to ‘unleash’ Chakaravarthy since he’s an unknown quantity for the majority of the Aussie batters (only a few would’ve faced him in the IPL).

Method Behind The Madness

India carefully planned their squad combination for the tournament. As captain Rohit Sharma revealed on Monday, the team management was keeping a close watch on the ILT20 2025 matches being held in Dubai and the knowledge they gained resulted in them picking up slow bowlers.

“…looking at the surfaces here (Dubai) and hearing about what has happened in Dubai in the past two months, a lot of cricket has been played. So, we kind of knew that the surfaces were going to be slow. We were watching the ILT20, which was played here, and we thought the slower bowlers would be a lot more helpful. And then, we’ve got a batter sitting in the dugout anyway. And if we need a batter to come in, Rishabh is there for us. So, we thought with an extra spin option, there’s always a chance that we can play those guys,” Rohit explained.