Ryan ten Doeschate, the assistant coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, has provided a major update regarding the fitness condition and availability of captain Rohit Sharma in light of India’s last Group A match against New Zealand. India will take on the Black Caps in Dubai on March 2, with the winning side ending up as the table toppers of Group A in the Champions Trophy 2025.
He had suffered a hamstring injury against Pakistan on February 23 while playing in Dubai, putting his availability for the New Zealand game on Sunday in doubt, but Ten Doeschate confirmed Rohit was back in working order.
“He’s alright. You see, he’s batting a little bit more than before. It’s a recurring injury. He knows how to manage it really well,” Ten Doeschate told reporters in Dubai on Friday when he was asked about the 37-year-old batter’s fitness following an injury scare during the game against Pakistan.
Multiple media outlets in India reported that Rohit may be absent from the match against New Zealand, in which case vice-captain Shubman Gill would lead the side.
Star Indian player KL Rahul had another press conference on Friday, and when asked for an update about Rohit, he stated that there were no injury concerns in the Indian team.
“For fitness, nobody has any concern regarding someone missing a game as far as I know,” Ryan said.
Having been terribly out of form during a three-match Test series against New Zealand last year, Rohit scored 41 runs in India’s first match against Bangladesh in Champions Trophy 2025; in the second Group A clash against Pakistan, he scored 20 runs off 15 balls. He broke the record of Sachin Tendulkar, becoming the fastest opening ODI batsman in the world to have scored 9000 runs.
Number three on the ICC’s list of top ODI Batsmen Rohit submerges himself in hope to put on a Tiger’s show for India against New Zealand on Sunday and become a part of something special as India aims for a sixth consecutive win in 50-over games against the Black Caps.
