Not Shubman Gill! 31-Year-Old Star Likely To Replace Rohit Sharma As India ODI Captain- Report

Not Shubman Gill! 31-Year-Old Star Likely To Replace Rohit Sharma As India ODI Captain- Report Photo : AP

India are all set to begin their campaign in the Champions Trophy 2025 from February 20 against Bangladesh. India have already named the squad for the mega tournament, as Rohit Sharma looks to captain the team to their second ICC trophy less than a year after winning the T20 World Cup 2024. Shubman Gill has been chosen as the vice-captain of Team India. Hence, it is quite natural that people expect him to replace Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain. However, a report mentions someone else entirely to replace Rohit.

According to a report by Dainik Bhaskar, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya might replace Rohit Sharma as captain if India fail to win the Champions Trophy 2025. In fact, head coach Gautam Gambhir wanted Hardik Pandya to become the vice-captain of the Indian team. However, captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Aji Agarkar were adamant to select Shubman Gill as the vice-captain.

Hardik Pandya Might Replace Suryakumar Yadav

The report also states that Hardik Pandya might also replace Suryakumar Yadav as the Indian T20I captain after the stat batter's slump in form since becoming the skipper in the shortest format of the game.

Hardik Pandya was Rohit Sharma's deputy in the T20 World Cup 2024 and also led India in a lot of T20I games in the absence of Rohit Sharma in 2022 and 2023. However, it was Suryakumar Yadav who was named as the India T20I captain after Rohit Sharma's retirement.

The report states that a few BCCI stakeholders and Gautam Gambhir felt that Hardik Pandya has faced a lot of injustice. He lost his captaincy due to his fitness issues but has been in absolutely brilliant form.

India Squad For Champions Trophy 2025

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.

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