The Indian cricket team had a rather bitter experience during the 2017 Champions Trophy. Their brilliant run right up to the finals was met with defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final. The marquee event is back after a gap of eight years and, as per the sidelines for the Champions Trophy 2025, things don’t look too bright for two vital cogs in the Indian cricket team-Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma, who have taken lots of criticism over the last two months, particularly following their dreadful outing Down Under during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
However, both have had a strong personal record in ODIs. In fact, Rohit Sharma ended a long century drought with a hundred in the 2nd ODI of the India-England series-the last series Indian cricket played before the Champions Trophy.
Interesting observations were made about the players by former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar.
“Rohit is probably the most destructible opening batsman in the one-day game, and with him in prime form, he would be a vital cog for India to reclaim the Trophy that they won way back in 2013. Not many batsmen have scored multiple double hundreds in this format. And Rohit is one of those rare batsmen who have scored multiple double hundreds, which is why it’s also vital for the team captain to be pretty in form, leading well and making decisions when the chips are down,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
“Difficult times demand bold decisions, and if a captain is on a roll personally, he is not thinking of the consequences in case of a tactical error. Heated performances are never a problem; the sheer instinct that helps him arrive at the right decision more often than not just keeps working, while an under-performing captain will either be sporadically right or mostly wrong in his decisions.”
Gavaskar further elaborated: “The Champions Trophy win will provide a big impetus for Kohli.”
“Kohli is a big-match player, and nothing will motivate him more than the opportunity to score runs and win the Champions Trophy. After the last Champions Trophy win in 2013, he celebrated with the Gangnam dance, which was the rage way back then. This time, when he helps India win, we can expect yet another unique celebration from him,” wrote Gavaskar.
