Exclusive | India Vs Pakistan: Former India Cricketer Wants Rohit Sharma To Play This Pacer

The Indian team under the leadership of Rohit Sharma is ready to lock horns with Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 game at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, February 23. The Indian team management has been dealing with a pace dilemma but in the end, they preferred Harshit Rana in the IND vs PAK game who was added to the side as a replacement for injured Jasprit Bumrah. 

In the first game against Bangladesh also, Rana was Mohammed Shami’s new ball partner. Keeping in mind the conditions, Harshit will have a challenge at hand when bowling against the Pakistan batters in Dubai. 

Former India cricketer Atul Wassan was shocked to see Indian team management playing Harshit Rana over Arshdeep Singh. The Punjab-based bowler has the ability to swing the ball and Arshdeep was the leading wicket-taker with 20 wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

“I don’t understand why they played Harshit Rana. He did take wickets but conceded a lot of runs. I thought Arshdeep Singh would play. He is the left-arm pacer and brings a lot of dimension to the team. You have already got a player who has played in big-ticket matches like Arshdeep I would rather back him. I think against Pakistan, we should play a left-arm pacer”, Atul Wassan told ZEE News.

“See Kuldeep is fit enough to be in India’s playing XI. Yes, he looked out of colour a bit but then I am sure he will make a comeback. One bad match does not mean that you will drop a player, I will back Kuldeep ahead of Varun Chakaravarthy”, he added.

ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Complete squads of India and Pakistan

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Ali Agha, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah.