Former India spinner R Ashwin has unveiled his ICC Champions Trophy 2025 team of the tournament, featuring the best XI. However, surprisingly, Ashwin snubbed the CT 2025 winning captain Rohit Sharma in his XI.
R Ashwin made several brave decisions when selecting his Champions Trophy team. Ashwin left aside several of his former teammates, selecting only four Indians for his XI.
Ashwin chose New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra and England's Ben Duckett to open. Ravindra was named Player of the Tournament, and Duckett scored 165 in England's first game against Australia.
For No. 3, Ashwin was torn between Virat Kohli and Joe Root, but he ultimately chose Kohli, citing his performance in crucial situations such as the match against Pakistan. Shreyas Iyer, India's leading run-scorer in the Champions Trophy 2024, was an obvious choice for him at No. 4.
After that, Ashwin did not include a single Indian till the bowlers, leaving out Axar Patel, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya. All three had successful tournaments and contributed significantly to Team India at critical moments.
Instead, Ashwin chose Australia’s Josh Inglis and South African veteran David Miller along with Afghan star Azmatullah Omarzai and finally the New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell in his XI.
Omarzai was one of the tournament's top players, despite Afghanistan's failure to advance past the group round. Omarzai scored 126 runs in three games with a strike rate of more than 100, while also taking seven wickets, including a fifer.
Ashwin chose Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy for his bowling attack. Kuldeep took seven wickets in five games, while Chakravarthy was India's X-factor on multiple occasions, taking nine wickets in only three games.
Ashwin then needed a front-line pacer and instead of Mohammad Shami, the former spinner chose New Zealand’s Matt Henry. Henry took 10 wickets in four games, while Shami got nine in five. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner was picked as the 12th man by Ashwin.
R Ashwin's Champions Trophy 2025 Team of the Tournament:
Rachin Ravindra, Ben Duckett, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Josh Inglis, David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Michael Bracewell, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Matt Henry. 12th man: Mitchell Santner.
