R Ashwin picks his Champions Trophy 2025 Best XI including 4 Indians; no place for KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, keeps captaincy candidate as 12th man

India's legendary off-spin bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has picked his Best XI for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Ashwin's Best XI includes four Indian players, three Kiwis, one Afghanistan all-rounder, one England batter, Australian wicketkeeper-batter and Afghanistan all-rounder. He slotted New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner as the 12th man in the team of the tournament. 

Batting lineup

Ashwin has kept two left-handed batter as openers. New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra who won the 'Player of the series' award for ending the tournament as highest run-scorer is the first opener. England's Ben Duckett who scored the first 150 in the tournament's history is the other opener for him. 

The 38-year-old slotted Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer at no.3 and no.4. Iyer was India's leading run-scorer in the tournament, closely followed by Kohli. While Iyer relied on big shots in challenging Dubai conditions, Kohli made run chases look easy. He scored his first century of Champions Trophy against Pakistan on February 23.

Ashwin chose Australia's Josh Inglis over KL Rahul as wicketkeeper-batter in the team. Inglis scored an unbeaten century in the record-breaking run chase against England. Another middle order batter he picked was David Miller. The veteran South Africa batter scored the fastest century in Champions Trophy history in losing cause in the semifinal clash against England. 

All-rounders

Pace-bowling all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai made the cut in Ashwin's side. Omarzai also featured in ICC's team of the tournament as well. Omarzai bagged seven wickets at group stages and contributed with the bat down the order as well. Another all-rounder in the side is Michael Bracewell who dismissed Kohli in the final for a single-digit score. Bracewell also scored a quickfire century in the final. 

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Bowling lineup

The two speciallist spinners in Ashwin's side are Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy. While Chakravarthy bagged nine wickets in three games, Kuldeep played the supporting role. In the final, Kuldeep got the crucial wickets of Ravindra and Kane Williamson. Ashwin also feels that Chakravarthy should have got the 'Player of the series' award ahead of Ravindra. 

The only speciallist pacer in Ashwin's team is Matt Henry. The highest wicket-taker in the tournament was ruled out of the final following a shoulder injury he sustained while taking a catch in the semifinal against South Africa. Ashwin kept the captain of the tournament in ICC's team, Santner as the 12th man. The left-arm spinner led from the front and provided crucial breakthroughs while keeping a lid on boundaries.

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Ashwin's Champions Trophy 2025 team of the tournament -

Rachin Ravindra, Ben Duckett, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Josh Inglis, David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Michael Bracewell, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Matt Henry. 12th man: Mitchell Santner.