R Ashwin picks his semifinalists for 2025 Champions Trophy; leaves out Pakistan

Recently retired Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked his four semifinalists for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy, starting February 19. The eight-team tournament will have two groups of four sides each, followed by the top two from each group competing in the semifinal before the grand finale on March 9.

While Group A features India, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Bangladesh, Group B consists of Australia, England, South Africa and Afghanistan.

Ashwin, who played a massive role in India's 2013 Champions Trophy triumph, picked Rohit Sharma's Men to be one of the semifinalists from Group A. The Tamil Nadu spinner then predicted that New Zealand would join India as the other semifinalist from the group ahead of hosts Pakistan.

Coming to Group B, Ashwin went with the defending ODI World Cup champions Australia as a semifinalist despite the absence of several first-choice players in the squad. He then picked Australia's Ashes rivals, England, to become the second semifinalist from Group B.

Apart from the semifinal picks, Ashwin also graded all eight participating teams on a scale of 100 based on their team strength and balance. The former Indian off-spinner ranked India and New Zealand as the top two teams with scores of 85/100 each.

England came in at No.3 on Ashwin's ranking with a score of 81, while the Aussies ranked fourth with a score of 78. Afghanistan and South Africa were fifth and sixth, with scores of 70 and 68 out of 100.

Hosts Pakistan were second to bottom on Ashwin's ranking with a score of 55/100, while Bangladesh finished last in the list with a score of 40/100.

Ravichandran Ashwin's Semifinal picks for 2025 Champions Trophy:

Group A: India, New Zealand

Group B: England, Australia

"Would have given India a 90 had Bumrah been there" - Ravichandran Ashwin

Bumrah helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup [Credit: Getty]

Ravichandran Ashwin acknowledged that ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah's absence reduced India's overall score for the 2025 Champions Trophy from 90 to 85.

Bumrah sustained a back injury in the final Test of India's recent tour of Australia and was subsequently ruled out of the Champions Trophy.

Talking about India's squad for the mega event on his YouTube channel, Ashwin said [25:27]:

"I'll give them 85. I would given India a 90 had Bumrah been there because India is completely different with him in the mix. The only concern for India in my view is that all their games are in Dubai. Let's say we lose all three tosses and are put into bat first because it's chalk and cheese between day and night at this venue. So if opponents bat under lights, this 85 might start dropping."

India will begin their 2025 Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.