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Predictions 
There has been a lot of talk around the pitches in Dubai and India’s squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. Looking at the 15-man squad for the eight-team event, it seems like the pitches are going to assist the spinners quite a bit. However, India could be in for a surprise.
According to reports on PTI, the Rohit Sharma-led side will be dished out fresh pitches which were preserved, specifically for the Champions Trophy.Dubai recently hosted the ILT20 tournament. 15 out of the 34 matches, including the Qualifier 1 and final were played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Hence, the general perception was that there is a chance that the pitches may be tired and slow. But sources have revealed that two pitches (out of the 10 that are present at the ground) were unused in order to keep them fresh for the Champions Trophy.
“There are 10 match strips at the DICS. During the league stage, there was specific instruction that those two won’t be used now and needed to be kept fresh for the Champions Trophy. However, whether any of the two was used for the play-offs isn’t known. The idea is to ensure that it doesn’t become low and slow after over-use and matches become drag. The fresh pitches will aid the batters and bowlers in equal measure,” a source was quoted saying to PTI.
It’s been nearly a year since Dubai hosted a 50-over match. Over the last few years, pacers have dominated wicket charts in ODI cricket in Dubai. In fact, the ILT20 2025 also had their top wicket-takers as pacers. Even the Under-19 Asia Cup which was played in December 2024 saw pacers at the top of the wicket charts.
Five spinners in India’s Champions Trophy squad
India have picked as many as five spinners in their squad for the marquee tournament. Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar are the spin options in the side. Chakravarthy was a late addition as he replaced Yashasvi Jaiswal after some incredible performances in the T20I format.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana are the only frontline pace bowling options apart from pace all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Hence, India are likely to go in with a combination of three pacers and three spinners and that is going to include three all-rounders. Going by the England ODI series, Axar and Jadeja will be the spin-bowling all-rounders while Kuldeep will be the frontline spinner. Shami will lead the pace attack with either Harshit or Arshdeep accompanying him alongside Pandya who is critical to the balance of the XI.
India’s first game of the Champions Trophy 2025 is against Bangladesh on the 20th of February.
