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What If Champions Trophy 2025 Was A 5v5 Format? Picking India-Pakistan's Five-A-Side Team 

Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam- (X.com)Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam- (X.com)

Cricket has evolved with time. From no limit on the duration of days to limit red-ball cricket to a five-day games. 

Further, the white-ball format was introduced with 60 overs, which got reduced to fifty overs before the T20 format kicked in and all the hype shifted towards the shortest format of the game.

However, the game has further shortened as several leagues are being held around the world with 10 overs games and termed as 'T10'.

Thus, just to wonder, what if the upcoming Champions Trophy was a five-over game and the maximum number of players you could pick were just five, then what would the line-up look like for the India-Pakistan match?

Here's a Probable Five-A-Side Team For the India-Pakistan Match If CT25 Was A 5v5 Game

Pakistan 

Ideally, for a five-a-side game, a team requires two batters, two bowlers, and one all-rounder. But they also need to have a batter who can keep wickets. 

Pakistan have the perfect man for it, as their two batters would be Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as the latter can bat as well. 

In the all-around section, for a change, Iftikhar Ahmed would be an ideal choice, because in a five-over game, you have the license to hit every ball out of the park, while he can also bowl out one over. 

Among the bowlers, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah would be the ideal choice, as Haris Rauf concedees too many run, and having a good economy is a must in a five-over game. 

Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan (Wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

India

One disadvantage for India is that they don't have an explosive keeper-batter who would be explosive at the top, but to talk about the batter first, then skipper Rohit Sharma becomes the obvious choice. 

Another choice for a batter would be Rishabh Pant, as India need a keeper-batter who can hit sixes from the first ball. 

In the all-rounder category, Hardik Pandya is the obvious choice. In the bowling, Jasprit Bumrah is the star bowler, but India should go with spin as the other option and choose Kuldeep Yadav. 

India:  Rohit Sharma (C), Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeepp Yadav