ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Ravi Shastri praises Indian cricket team selection

Former captain Ravi Shastri praised the selection of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England while commentator Harsha Bhogle expressed surprise at the non-selection of a legspinner.

After all the delays, the India squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy in June in England was picked and there were no major surprises. The squad saw the return of Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami back in the squad while Manish Pandey came back to the squad. India begin their Champions Trophy campaign with two warm-ups against New Zealand (May 28) and Bangladesh (May 30) before starting the main campaign against Pakistan on June 4.

India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 included no major surprises as the team was picked after a long delay. (Getty Images)

Former Team India Director Ravi Shastri lauded the selection committee headed by MSK Prasad for selecting the 15-member selected for ICC Champions Trophy in New Delhi on Monday.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan, making a comeback to the Indian team, was excited to defend the Champions Trophy title. The left-hander, who smashed 363 runs at an average of 90 with two centuries, was named the man of the tournament and was presented with the golden bat. His exploits helped India become only the second team after the West Indies to win all ICC trophies.

Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, however, expected a wrist spinner would have provided the variety to the Indian team. In his tweets, he added that an absence of a legspinner was surprising.