With the 2025 Champions Trophy on the horizon, India’s greatest worry is who will fill the gap alongside Mohammed Shami in the fast bowling department, particularly with Jasprit Bumrah out of action. While Harshit Rana has been included as Bumrah’s cover in the team, Australian great Ricky Ponting feels Arshdeep Singh should be the one to fill that role in the playing XI. Bumrah’s injury absence is regarded as a major dent to India’s title ambition, as the pacer has been the pillar of their bowling unit in all formats over the past few years.

Ricky Ponting Picks Arshdeep Singh Over Harshit Rana

“I would go with the left-armer and I’d go with Arshdeep (to replace Bumrah). We know how good he’s been in T20 cricket and if you think about the skill set, he probably provides a similar skill set to what Bumrah does with new ball and death overs and that’s what India will miss,” Ricky Ponting said on ICC

“That’s taking nothing away from Harshit Rana because I think he has got a lot of talent and we know what he can do with the new ball, but I don’t think his death skills are as good as what Arshdeep Singh’s are. And just that left-arm variation, someone that can bowl left-arm with a new ball and move the new ball. We know how important they are and crucial they can be, especially in big tournaments when you’ve got a lot of right-handers at the top. I would personally lean that way if I was India,” he added.

India Squad For ICC Champions Trophy 2025

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