Ajit Agarkar to reveal India's Champions Trophy squad by January 12; Hardik, KL Rahul to be ignored for vice-captaincy

India's long Test calendar ended on a disastrous note on Sunday as the team suffered back-to-back series defeats, which not only saw them concede the top spot in the World Test Championship points table, but also got eliminated from the race to make the final. En route, India lost seven of their last eight Test matches, which included an unprecedented 0-3 whitewash at home against New Zealand. KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya with Adam Zampa at the end of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia(PTI)

The focus for the Indian team will move back to white-ball cricket, with the ICC Champions Trophy slated to begin on February 19. Ahead of the tournament, India will play five T20Is and three ODI matches at home against England, with the fixtures starting January 22.

However, the immediate focus will be directly on the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee, who is expected to announce the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy by January 12, which is the deadline date for all teams to pick their 15-man provisional squad. However, ICC will allow them to make changes until February 13.

"All teams need to submit their provisional squads by January 12 but (are) allowed to make changes till February 13. It is up to the teams whether they want to announce the squad or or not as the International Cricket Council (ICC) will release the submitted squads only on February 13," said an ICC official to the Times of India.

Jasprit Bumrah to be named India's vice-captain

The report in the TOI further mentioned that Bumrah, who is currently battling fitness concerns after an arduous Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia, will most likely be named as Rohit Sharma's deputy for the Champions Trophy. This implies the selectors will be overlooking Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, both of whom had served as India's vice-captain in the 2023 ODI World Cup. The all-rounder was initially named for the role, before Rahul took over the responsibility after Hardik's ankle injury.

For the selectors, they will have a head-scratcher for evert slot in the team with most contenders and fringe options currently putting on impressive shows in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament.

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