The captain of the Indian men’s cricket team, Rohit Sharma, was in abysmal form during the three-Test series at home against New Zealand and the away series of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, raising serious questions about his international cricketing future. Nevertheless, Rohit, 37, was surprisingly retained by the selectors for the ODI series against England at home in February 2025, and he performed brilliantly in the second ODI at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, scoring a century. On February 9, Rohit led the batting in the 305-run chase, smashing 119 runs in 90 balls, hitting 12 fours and 7 sixes. His large innings in the second ODI, contributing to India winning the series, had the double impact of silencing his critics and warning the rival teams for the upcoming Champions Trophy, which starts on Wednesday, February 19, in Karachi.
Rohit’s return to form was good news for Indian cricket team fans and followers, who expect the right-handed batter from Mumbai to maintain his good form in the Champions Trophy as well and score big runs for Men in Blue. Before India’s first match in the eight-team tournament that is to be held from February 19 to March 9 across three venues in Pakistan and one in Dubai, an enormous prediction about Rohit’s performance in the following matches have been made by ex-Indian wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik.
Karthik, who was part of India’s 2013 Champions Trophy-winning team, stated Rohit would perform well in the Champions Trophy and his innings would be very important for India.
“I personally think with the form that he showed in that second game in Cuttack, he will go well for India. And he’s very crucial. Look, the tempo at which he bats actually makes it easier for a lot of the other guys to come through. So Rohit Sharma’s innings every time he walks out to bat is going to be really, really important for Team India,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz’s HeyCB with DK show.
Making his ODI debut for India on June 23, 2007, in a match against Ireland in Belfast, Rohit has scored 481 runs in 10 matches in the Champions Trophy. In the semifinal of the 2017 edition, Rohit scored a century against Bangladesh, ensuring the team’s entry into the final with Virat Kohli leading the side.
