The BCCI on Saturday (January 18) announced India’s 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in a press conference organised at Wankhede Stadium. Rohit Sharma will lead India in the eight-team ICC tournament, which will be played from February 19 to March 9, and Shubman Gill was named as his deputy. According to a report in Dainik Jagran on Sunday, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir was in favour of appointing Hardik Pandya as India’s vice-captain for the ICC tournament, but captain Rohit and chief selector Ajit Agarkar were in favour of Gill.
Hardik was India’s vice-captain in the ODI World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024 as well, but since then he has been axed from leadership roles. He was all set to take charge of India’s T20I team after Rohit’s retirement from the shortest format of the game in June 2024, but surprisingly Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as India’s T20I captain.
Gill was India’s vice-captain in the last ODI series played against Sri Lanka in August 2024, and he managed to retain his position.
It has also been reported that Gambhir wanted to include Sanju Samson as wicketkeeper-batter in India’s Champions Trophy squad, but Rohit and Agarkar wanted Rishabh Pant.
Samson, who became the first batter in the world to score three T20I centuries in a calendar year in 2024, last played a 50-over match for India in Paarl on December 21, 2023, against South Africa and scored 108 runs as a No. 3 batter.
