Team India suffered a fresh blow ahead of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy after wicketkeeper-batter

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during a training session in Dubai on Sunday.

Thankfully, the injury that Pant has suffered has turned out to be less serious after he was seen padding up later on. The BCCI also shared a video which showed Pant with his helmet on, further easing the fears of Team India and its die-hard fans. Despite these positive signs, Pant reportedly did not attend the fielding drills on Monday and instead did some shadow batting.

Pant has gone down the pecking order in ODIs recently, and having said that, KL Rahul was preferred in the ODIs against England and it remains to be seen if he does get a game even if he is fit. However, what if Pant is not fit enough and eventually ruled out of Champions Trophy 2025? Which players can replace him?

Shivam Dube

Shivam Dube is the most likeliest player who can replace Rishabh Pant in Indi's squad for Champions Trophy 2025.

Dube is already in the non-travelling reserves list, so it shouldn't come as a surprise if he is asked to fly to Dubai as replacement for the 27-year-old.

Dube, however, does not have enough credentials in ODIs to prove his worth as a replacement player. He has scored just 43 runs from four ODIs and taken a wicket, but among the reserves, the all-rounder seems to be the only viable option. This is due to the fact that Yashasvi Jaiswal, the only other reserve player who is a batter, has suffered an ankle injury.

Dube was possibly picked ahead of someone like Riyan Parag because he brings in the left-handed option in the middle-order, something that is a scarcity in India's ODI top seven.

Tilak Varma

Tilak Varma too is a newbie to ODI cricket having played just four matches. However, the 22-year-old Hyderabad all-rounder did enjoy a pretty decent Vijay Hazare campaign, scoring 190 runs from seven matches that included a couple of fifties.

The youngster is also known to have a calm and composed attitude and that was evident during the second T20I between India and England in Chennai, where he scored an unbeaten 72 off 55 balls.

Riyan Parag

Among these three players, Riyan Parag could be the most likeliest of players to replace Rishabh Pant in the India squad for the Champions Trophy.

He has only played just the one ODI against Sri Lanka last year, but what Parag brings to the table is his way of batting in a fearless manner. That's something which Rishabh Pant is also known for, so should Parag be drafted in to the squad, he would be a like-for-like replacement from that sense.

Parag also adds the part-time bowling option, which India might deem useful in these conditions.

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Why Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson aren't available to replace Rishabh Pant

The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was in the initial 15-member Champions Trophy 2025 squad named, and Sanju Samson, another wicketkeeping option like Pant, are both injured. While Jaiswal is set to miss the Ranji Trophy semifinals for Mumbai with an ankle injury, Samson is recovering after a finger surgery.

Ishan Kishan does not appear to be in contention anymore for the recent future after his contract was cancelled. This leaves India with only a handful of choices should they find themselves seeking a replacement for Pant after the freak injury during training.