“It would be a very, very selfish thing” - When Gautam Gambhir made a huge statement on himself ahead of 2017 Champions Trophy

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir made a bold statement about his selection possibilities (as a batter) in the 2017 Champions Trophy squad during the IPL season that year. Despite his purple patch for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2017, Gambhir maintained that scoring runs keeping the Champions Trophy selection in mind would be a 'selfish' act on his part.

Days ahead of India's 2017 Champions Trophy squad were to be announced, Gambhir also opined that T20 form should have no bearing on ODI selection. Talking to ESPNcricinfo in May 2017, he said:

"I could have said that yes, I hope I'm in contention (Champions Trophy selection). But I have generally not thought about it. I am someone who tries a lot to stay in the present. The moment I start thinking about me scoring runs to be part of the Champions Trophy team, it would be a very, very selfish thing to do. And being a leader you can't do that."

He added:

"I totally agree [that T20 numbers should not be the sole criteria for ODI selection]. T20 runs should only be a criteria to get selected for a T20 side. The moment you start picking players in the one-day format by their T20 performance, then you are giving your domestic 50-over competitions absolutely no relevance."

Gambhir finished IPL 2017 as the second leading run-scorer with 498 runs at an average of 41.50 and a strike rate of over 128 in 16 outings. Yet, he missed out on selection for India's 2017 Champions Trophy squad.

Gambhir's final ODI appearance for India remained the 2013 home series against England.

India announce final 15-member squad for 2025 Champions Trophy

India will be without the services of ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah [Credit: Getty]

Cut to the present, Team India announced their final 15-member squad for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy on Tuesday, February 11. The tournament will be Gautam Gambhir's first ICC event as India's head coach.

In a massive blow to the team's chances, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the marquee event after failing to fully recover from his back injury, picked up during the 2024 -25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). The management decided to include five spinners — Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Varun Chakravarthy — in the 15-member squad.

Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, and Harshit Rana will form the pace attack, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya playing the supporting role. India have also excluded talented opener Yashasvi Jaiswal from their provisional squad to include a fifth spin-bowling option in Chakravarthy.

India will be part of Group A with Pakistan, Bangladesh, and New Zealand, and start their campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.

India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025

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