IND against NZ ICC Champions Trophy 2025: The Indian Express reports that the team management intends to give regular captain Rohit Sharma the much-needed break from the dead rubber by allowing vice-captain Shubman Gill to make his ODI captaincy debut during Sunday’s final group stage match against New Zealand. While attempting to stop a ball during last week’s intense match against bitter rivals Pakistan, Rohit suffered a hamstring injury. After the 26th over, he was having trouble and departed the field as well.
The team’s vice-captain, Gill, stepped up to the plate and led the squad from the front for a time. After some while, Rohit did return to the ground, but he wasn’t at his best. When Rohit Sharma did not bat during Wednesday’s team practice, it was clear that he was not feeling well.
Rohit was the only batsman who did not bat during the training session, according to many sources. Additionally, he avoided any confrontations and was seen engaging in a lengthy conversation with head coach Gautam Gambhir. He did, however, take part in a brief sprint. The team management has taken the precaution of allowing him to recover from the match against New Zealand, even if his ailment is not that severe and might potentially hinder their campaign in the mega-event.
Given that both sides have advanced to the semifinals, their next matchup against New Zealand has turned into a dead rubber. Their only goal is to be the table toppers in the end. With just one day between their last group stage game and Tuesday’s first semifinal, this is one of the reasons the team management wants to give Rohit some rest.
The Rohit Sharma-led team will play in the first semi-final in Dubai regardless of where they finish in the points table since they will not be traveling to Pakistan for the second semi-final. Three teams—Australia, Afghanistan, and South Africa—are still in the running to get to the semifinals, therefore India is still unsure of their opponent. The impending conflict between Afghanistan and Australia would be the center of attention.
Who is going to take Rohit Sharma’s place?
Rishabh Pant or Wahington Sundar may replace Rohit Sharma in the starting lineup if he sustains a significant injury or if the team management decides to give him some time off in light of the semifinal. During the training session, both of these batters were seen putting in a lot of practice. The Men in Blue do not have a backup opener on their roster, which should be mentioned here. They made a last-minute switch by substituting spinner Varun Chakravarthy with Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, given KL Rahul is already quite comfortable as a middle-order batsman, forcing him to play as another opener on Sunday will disrupt the whole batting order.
Additionally, Pant has played as an opener in white-ball forms and, like Rohit, is capable of aggressive batting during the powerplay.
The record of Shubman Gill as captain
As the captain of Gujarat Titans in the 2024 Indian Premier League, Shubman Gill shown his leadership abilities by leading the youthful Indian squad to victory in the five-match T20I series, which they won 4-1. Since the series took place just after the 2024 T20 World Cup, several veteran players were granted a break. But when he was named the team’s vice-captain for the three-match ODI series against England and the upcoming mega-event, it was clear that he had the potential to be the future ODI captain. Gill became the top ODI batsman after Rohit Sharma saw his outstanding performance in this format.
Gill, who is dominating this tournament after hitting a game-winning hundred against Bangladesh in their first encounter and then 46 against bitter rivals Pakistan, was seen on Thursday going to a private practice session to hone his abilities.
