The Indian board has requested more time from the ICC to finalise their preliminary CT squad.
India's Champions Trophy 2025 squad is unlikely to be unveiled this weekend as the BCCI has decided to delay the announcement, Cricbuzz reported on Saturday (January 11).
Initial reports claimed that the BCCI selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, would announce India's squads for the white-ball series (five T20Is and three ODIs) against England at home and the provisional one for the Champions Trophy by Sunday (January 12) after a meeting on Saturday, but now announcement of the ICC showpiece squad has been delayed.
The report further stated that the Indian board has requested more time from the ICC to finalise their preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy.
Usually, all participating teams are supposed to name a provisional squad at least a month before an ICC tournament. However, this time, the apex body had requested all eight teams to name their provisional squads five weeks before the start of the main event.
"The BCCI, citing recent commitments in Australia for the Test series, is expected to request for more time. It is likely that the provisional Champions Trophy squad will predominantly feature players from the three home ODIs against England," the report claimed.
India's Champions Trophy squad is now likely to be announced on January 19, exactly a month before the tournament is slated to get underway in Karachi with the Pakistan versus New Zealand clash.
While teams can make changes to the provisional squad before the start of the tournament with prior intimation to the ICC, it is likely that the squad Indian selectors pick on January 19 will be the final one unless there are any fresh injury concerns.
The report also suggested that the ODI squad for the three-match series against England and the one for the Champions Trophy will more or less be the same. With the England series being the last opportunity to get some valuable match practice, the BCCI does not want to tweak too much with the combination.
Meanwhile, India's squad for the T20I series against England is expected to be announced either on Saturday or Sunday. The selectors are likely to retain the squad that featured in the recent away series against South Africa with a few tweaks here and there.
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)