Former England captain picks Team of the Tournament for 2025 Champions Trophy; leaves out KL Rahul among 3 Indians

Former England captain Michael Atherton picked his 2025 Champions Trophy Team of the Tournament. The marquee ICC event concluded with India beating New Zealand by four wickets in the final in Dubai on Sunday (March 9).

Atherton picked three Indian players in his team but left out KL Rahul, going with an alternate option for the wicket-keeper's position. For the opening pair, he picked Afghanistan's Ibrahim Zadran along with New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra. Atherton went with Virat Kohli at three and Joe Root at four, keeping two experienced players in the middle order.

"Best innings I have seen, Ibrahim Zadran. Zadran and Rachin Ravindra (openers). Ravindra couple of hundreds and I've got Joe Root at 4. I've gone Zadran, Ravindra, Kohli, Root," he said on Sky Sports Cricket's YouTube channel. (0:18)

Zadran slammed 177 against England, breaking the record for the highest individual score in the history of the Champions Trophy. Rachin Ravindra ended as the leading run-getter of the tournament with 263 runs from four matches with two hundreds.

Further, he picked Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis at five, followed by Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai at 6. Omarzai scored 126 runs from three games at a strike-rate of 104.13 and scalped seven wickets in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Atherton also picked Glenn Phillips as his number 7.

"I have gone for a wicketkeeper-batter at 5 - Josh Inglis. It was a fantastic performance from him in that England game. I've gone with Azmatullah the all-rounder at 6. Pretty good with the bat pretty good with the ball. I like the balance that he brings. Glenn Phillips at 7," he said. (1:21)

Atherton then picked Mitchell Santner as the captain of his team along with Mohammad Shami and Matt Henry as the two pacers. Henry picked up 10 wickets while Shami bagged nine. He rounded off his team with Varun Chakaravarthy, who also picked up nine wickets in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

"I've got Mitchell Santner at 8 and to captain the side. I've got two seamers - Mohammad Shami and Matt Henry. Finally at 11 I have gone with Varun Chakaravarthy," he added. (2:13)

Michael Atherton played 115 Tests and 54 ODIs for England in his international career. He now works as a renowned broadcaster and does commentary as well.

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Michael Atherton's 2025 Champions Trophy Team of the Tournament

Ibrahim Zadran, Rachin Ravindra, Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Josh Inglis (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (C), Matt Henry, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy.