Champions Trophy: India's biggest weakness ahead of the tournament

The ICC Champions Trophy is set to make its much-anticipated return after a gap of eight years, with the top eight teams vying for glory against each other in the prestigious tournament. The event will start on February 19, with the opening match taking place between Pakistan and New Zealand.
One of the favourites, India will kick off their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20, followed by their high-octane second match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, February 23. The last league match that the Men in the Blue will play is against their ICC tournament boggy team - New Zealand - on March 2. Rohit Sharma, India’s talismanic captain, will possibly be leading the squad last time in an ICC tournament.

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India, joint most two-time Champions Trophy winners, alongside Australia, will be eyeing their third title after sharing one with Sri Lanka in 2002 under Saurav Ganguly and winning the other in 2013 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Team India’s squad is a perfect blend of experience in the form of  Rohit, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, and youth with Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, and Harshit Rana in the squad.

However, despite being one of the front-runners for the title, India still have weaknesses that need to be taken care of.

Below we look at the weaknesses of Men in Blue

1. Absence of Jasprit Bumrah: Perhaps the biggest worry for the Indian team going into the tournament will be the absence of their talismanic pacer, Jasprit Bumrah. With the pacer not making the squad due to a back injury, this can prove harmful for the Men in Blue as Bumrah has always been the go-to man for the team in crunch situations. Come the knockout games, other bowlers will need to step up.

2. Inexperienced Fast Bowling Unit: Bumrah’s absence has made India’s fast-bowling stocks limited. With Mohammad Siraj also not in the squad, the pressure will be huge on the returning Mohammad Shami, inexperienced Harshit Rana, and Ashdeep Singh. India always found their death bowling difficult which will test the nerves of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep in particular, as both are not that much tested due to the availability of first-choice bowlers in ODI cricket.

3. Limited ODI match practice: Before taking their flight to Dubai, India have played only three ODI matches against England this year and only six since 2024. The team needs to be on target from the get-go. Rohit had to make some quick decisions regarding the matches. Bowlers like Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav who are returning to the ODI set-up after their respective surgeries would have liked more international games under their belt.

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