The BCCI on Saturday finally announced India's squad for the ICC Champions Trophy after much wait and speculation around it. After naming the 15-man squad, a press conference was soon attended by skipper Rohit Sharma along with the Chief Selector, Ajit Agarkar to address the media in the afternoon. Good news- Bumrah and Shami back together The fans of team India finally had a big sigh of relief after seeing the names of both, Jasprit Bumrah and Md. Shami in the squad for the marquee event. While Shami was constantly out of international cricket after the conclusion of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 due to a serious injury, Bumrah's place was really doubtful as well after having a concerning injury scare during the 5th test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Having those two pacers in the squad together would definitely be a massive confidence boost for the team as well as the fans. Surprise surprise.... Siraj dropped Meanwhile the only thing that came as a shock to the fans and the media was the exclusion of Mohammed Siraj from the squad. Having Shami and Bumrah as the leaders of the bowling attack, the selectors decided to go with Arshdeep Singh as the third and last frontline pacer instead of Siraj. There were literally no talks or reports hinting towards the dropping of Siraj and thus it took everyone by a bit of a surprise at the end. India's squad for the #ChampionsTrophy 2025 announced! 💪 💪Drop in a message in the comments below 🔽 to cheer for #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/eFyXkKSmcO — BCCI (@BCCI) January 18, 2025 Siraj has had some amazing stats in ODIs in the last couple of years. As India played just 3 ODIs throughout 2024, let's talk about his stats before this past year. While he picked 24 wickets in 2022 at an impressive average of 23.50, his numbers got way better in 2023 as he went on to pick 44 wickets at an average of 20.68. It's not just his figures that have been stunning, but also the fact that he was the co-leader of the attack continously in those two years while Bumrah was recovering from a really long injury and then went on to become his deputy without catching a break in the absence of Shami, speaks volume about his dedication, passion and fitness to give 100% for the team. Siraj has been the workhorse of the team in the last three years, bowling long spells without complaining even once. Also read: ‘Unfortunate that he has to miss out,’-Rohit Sharma on Siraj's Champions Trophy 2025 Snub India going in with 4 spinners The only reason that could have been there to drop Md. Siraj would be the decision to include 4 spinners in Jadeja, Axar, Kuldeep and Washington Sundar. If we talk more precisely, it might be BCCI's inability to choose any one of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel that might have led to the selection of just three pacers. Dropping either of those 2 left arm spin all-rounders would have received more backlash than the dropping of Siraj and the selectors... definitely didn't want any of that. Rest of the squad India has gone with a heavily experienced batting lineup which is almost similar to the 2023 World Cup's batting order. Another thing which came rather as a surprise was the appointment of Shubman Gill as the vice-captain. Yashashvi Jaiswal has been named as the backup opener while Shreyas Iyer has made his way back to the team. The think tank has gone with Rishabh Pant as the second WK-batter after KL Rahul, leaving out Sanju Samson. India's campaign kicks off on 20th February in Dubai against Bangladesh and it would be interesting to see who are the 11 players that the management decides to go with.