India will open their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 tournament on February 20 when they face off against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.
The India captain hoped that Shubman Gill will maintain his excellent form into the Champions Trophy as well. Gill, India's vice-captain in ODIs, was the Player of the Series against England in the ODIs , hitting one century and two fifties.
"Gill is a very classy player, and there was never a doubt about his ability in this squad. We tend to mix formats, and I don't think that's the right way to judge any player. With Gill, we know the numbers are crazy, he has been superb for us in the last three to four years.
Obviously, there is a reason that he has been elevated to be the vice-captain of the team as well. Hopefully, he has a great tournament, and it eventually will help us achieve the things that we are looking to achieve,” Rohit Sharma said at the presser.
Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, all eyes are on star player Virat Kohli and opening batter Rohit as they continue to negotiate their futures. Both batters performed admirably well in the England ODIs, with Kohli getting 52 in the third match and 37-year-old Rohit scoring 119 in the second encounter.
"The key to having success in this format, is your top three-four-five batsmen need to get that big score for you to post a big score eventually. So I think our top four batters are quite experienced, and we know that once they are set, once they are in, they like to get those big runs,” Rohit added.
While India will be missing Jasprit Bumrah in the Champions Trophy, they have welcomed their 2023 World Cup performer, Mohammad Shami back, as the pacer returned to international cricket action after 14 months against England. He played 2 T20Is and 2 ODIs and picked 5 wickets in them.
"All we wanted with Shami was to get back wearing the Indian colors more than anything else. Whether he gets wickets or not, that was completely immaterial for us at that point. When you talk about a bowler like Shami who has done the job over the years so many times for us...it's just about getting back to their rhythm,” Rohit said.
Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav has also returned following hernia surgery, strengthening the team's spin bowling attack.
"The two games that he played, the numbers will not show, and with certain players, you don't have to look at numbers so much. And if these two guys are in form, the team looks very, very good," he added.
India will play all of their games in Dubai after declining to travel to the host nation, Pakistan, due to long-standing political concerns. Rohit stated that evaluating the field "as quickly as possible" will be crucial to their performance at the Dubai stadium.
(PTI inputs)
