Upper middle order
Virat Kohli
There is no argument as to who will walk out for India on each single occasion at No. 3 – the world’s best batsman at this position, India’s captain Virat Kohli. Despite the praise Kohli has earned recently with his performances in the Tests and T20s, he is arguably at his best in the ODIs.
The Champions Trophy will be his first major tournament as skipper of the Indian cricket team and he will be keen to lay down a marker. While chasing down scores, there is simply nobody better equipped in world cricket to successfuly accomplish it.
KL Rahul
The Indian team has vehemently backed KL Rahul and he has often come up trumps in the past couple of months. While Kohli and Kumble have backed him, he will surely lose his openers spot with the return of Rohit Sharma.
One of two possibilites open up – Either Dhawan will be dropped, or we will see KL batting at No. 4, a position he owned for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the RCB.
This will surely be a challenge to him, but he has shown that he has the flexibility to adapt and excel. With the emergence of Kedhar Jadhav as a bowling option, it further weakeans Yuvraj’s claim for a spot in the squad.
MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni stepped down as captain of the limited-overs sides of the Indian cricket team. As the news came as a shocker to the fans initially, there was also a hint of excitement as the world would be treated to ‘MS Dhoni – the batsman’ again as was freed of the burden of captaincy.
He is still India’s best wicket-keeper and with his ability to finish off games, he will be key. In the Champions Trophy, he will be expected to play mentor to Virat Kohli and guide the Indian team to glory.
One can only hope MS Dhoni breaks the shackles and plays with the carefree spirit that made him so popular.
Players to miss out – Manish Pandey, Yuvraj Singh, Rishabh Pant, Suresh Raina
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