ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Reports Suggest Rohit Sharma May Opt Out, Hardik Pandya Likely to Lead

India's captain, Rohit Sharma, might not be part of the squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. He is struggling with his batting form - he was out for a low score in the first ODI against England in Nagpur. Hardik Pandya may lead Team India in the tournament, Gill is the vice-captain of Rohit. Although Gill is Rohit's official deputy, Pandya has the captaincy experience.

As per Dainik Jagran, Rohit Sharma might withdraw from India's squad for the Champions Trophy if he fails to perform in the ongoing ODI series against England. Rohit could hardly manage 2 runs off 7 balls against England in the first match of the ODI series. Now, if he steps away from the tournament, then India can be led by Hardik Pandya. Despite Gill being the vice-captain, the latter has more leadership experience than Shubman and can be promoted as a more preferred candidate.

Rohit's Poor Form Could Hurt India as Hardik Pandya Steps Up to Lead

If Rohit quits the Champions Trophy, it would be a significant blow to India as he is one of the best white-ball openers. Though he has been out of form, he still remains the best white-ball player India has ever had. This would not be the first time Rohit quit due to poor form. He had also withdrawn from the last Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney for the same reason. He had struggled at the beginning of India's home Test season, where he managed only 133 runs in five Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

The 38-year-old struggled even more in Australia, scoring just 31 runs in three Tests at an average of 6.20. His poor form led him to withdraw from the final Test in Sydney. When India's squad for the ODI series against England and the Champions Trophy was announced, Shubman Gill was named Rohit Sharma’s deputy. However, if Rohit misses out, Gill is unlikely to take over as captain.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to lead India in Rohit Sharma's absence, bringing prior experience as captain in both white-ball formats. He has captained India in 16 T20Is, securing 10 victories, and led the team to 2 wins in 3 ODIs. Beyond international cricket, Hardik captained the Gujarat Titans to an IPL title in 2022. While he was anticipated to succeed Rohit Sharma following the latter's retirement from T20Is, the Indian team management led by head coach Gautam Gambhir, appointed Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain.

India Champions Trophy squad

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