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A day after Team India skipper Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced India’s 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, a new report has revealed that their was a split over a few players between Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and the skipper. The report stated that Gautam Gambhir was overruled on two major decisions.
The report by Dainik Jagran claimed that their was difference of opinion which led to the meeting being extended for over two hours between Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar ahead of the team announcement. According to the report, Gambhir wanted Hardik Pandya to be the vice-captain, but Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar believed Shubman Gill to be the one after he served in the same role in the Sri Lanka series.
Gautam Gambhir wanted Hardik to be vice-captain and Sanju Samson in the side: Reports
Furthermore, Agarkar in the press conference on Saturday said that Gill was an automatic choice for the role after he was the vice-captain for the T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka. “Shubman Gill was vice-captain in Sri Lanka anyway, I wouldn’t read too much into it. A lot of the feedback comes from the dressing room. You also want to keep your options open. One of the challenges is that not many are leading their state teams nowadays…. but you are always on the lookout for anyone who has got some leadership qualities,” Ajit Agarkar said.
The report by Dainik Jagran also stated that Gautam Gambhir was in line to include Sanju Samson for the wicketkeeper role, but Rishabh Pant was ultimately chosen, thanks to the backing of Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar. The Chairman of Selectors, Ajit Agarkar also confirmed that Rishabh Pant will be the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter despite KL Rahul being in the side.
India’s squad for ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah (Subject to fitness), Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk) and Ravindra Jadeja.
