Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen picked Rohit Sharma-led India's playing XI for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. He also sent a message to India head coach Gautam Gambhir to keep wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul at number five in the batting order. He suggested India's head coach after Gambhir revealed that would continue to prefer a left-right combination in the middle-order, thus giving no guarantee on Rahul's batting position.
India team management was brutally criticised during the second two matches of the recently concluded ODI series against England after Axar Patel was sent to bat at number four before KL Rahul. Axar performed brilliantly in his new batting position while KL Rahul scored just 12 runs in 2 innings.
However, when KL Rahul batted at number five during the third ODI in Ahmedabad the Karnataka batter played a valuable knock of 40 off 29 in India's 142-run win. After the match, Pietersen, speaking to the broadcasters, urged Gambhir to keep Rahul at No. 5.
“One thing they'll be happy is that Virat Kohli got runs today. So Rohit's got runs. Gill, Shreyas...it's a pretty formidable start, I tell you that. I want KL Rahul at 5 because I want him to face many balls he got. He came in today with 17 overs to go. And when you come in with more time, you can build it. I don't think KL Rahul is the guy that comes in with three overs to go and hits you 30 or 12 ball. Rahul is the kind of guy that needs to get himself in in one day cricket. The best chance to give him that time is to bat him at 5,” he told Star Sports.
After that, the England great revealed his playing XI for India's Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on February 20.
After revealing the batting line up, he ignored Harshit Rana from the pacers and picked Arshdeep Singh as the second speedster alongside Mohammed Shami. Harshit made his ODI debut during the recent ODI series against England. The star batter also picked Kuldeep Yadav as the sole specialist spinner over Varun Chakravarthy. Chakravarthy also played his maiden ODI against England
“Chakravarthy's been very good, but I think Kuldeep has been very good in terms of what he's produced and the numbers that he's produced. I like the left-arm seamer, so that's why Arshdeep starts for me. You've got your three seamers there. Shami, Arshdeep and Hardik. Then you've got Jadeja, who's always my first pick. So Jadeja and the rest, Kuldeep, Axar,” he said.
Kevin Pietersen's India XI for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.