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DUBAI: India captain Rohit Sharma and superstar batsman Virat Kohli enter the Champions Trophy this week with intense focus on their dwindling powers and speculation over when they will retire.
Team India enter the Champions Trophy 2025 in great form, having recently whitewashed England 3-0 in a home ODI series. Captain Rohit Sharma seems to have found his groove, smashing his 32nd ODI ton during the series, while Virat Kohli also struck a fifty. Despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India remain one of the favourites for the trophy. The change in form has also seemingly seen a change in mood inside the Indian camp, with BCCI releasing a video of players training in Dubai in a jovial mood and in harmony.
India, the reigning ICC Men's T20 World Cup winners, enter the Champions Trophy with a 3-0 series sweep over England. The batters impressed with their scintillating knocks, while the bowlers were at their proficient best to bamboozle the England batters. With all their matches in Dubai, India will be keen to continue the good momentum they have right now into going all the way towards the Champions Trophy. Here's a SWOT analysis from IANS on the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team taking part in the Champions Trophy happening for the first time after 2017.
Harshit Rana has been the flavour of the season as far as India's emerging crop of fast bowlers is concerned but one of head coach Gautam Gambhir's finds is unlikely to start in India's playing eleven in the Champions Trophy with Arshdeep Singh still considered way ahead in terms of talent and quality. The Indian team management gave Harshit all three ODIs against England, and if one is absolutely fair to the burly 6-feet-2-inch tall Delhi speedster, he has not looked out of place.
A lot has changed in Indian cricket since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia concluded. Team India's return home from an unfulfilling series in Australia saw the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issue a 10-point diktat, restricting certain activities in the team. One of the restrictions put in place was barring players from bringing their own personal chefs, stylists, and staff on overseas tours. After the Indian team landed in Dubai for the ICC Champions Trophy campaign, however, Virat Kohli found a unique way to get his hands on the desired delicacies.
Harshit Rana has been the flavour of the season as far as India's emerging crop of fast bowlers is concerned but one of head coach Gautam Gambhir's finds is unlikely to start in India's playing eleven in the Champions Trophy with Arshdeep Singh still considered way ahead in terms of talent and quality. The Indian team management gave Harshit all three ODIs against England, and if one is absolutely fair to the burly 6-feet-2-inch tall Delhi speedster, he has not looked out of place.
Team India's 3-0 ODI series sweep against England does instill a lot of confidence in the team ahead of the start of the ICC Champions Trophy. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also showing signs of a return to form, the Indian team management can breathe a sigh of relief. But, there remain certain aspects of the team that a few experts aren't confident about. One of the biggest concerns for them, going forward is the lack of clarity about India's middle-order. In fact, a report has claimed that head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar aren't on the same page over the selection cases of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, prompting a heated debate in the team too.
The Indian team made its touch down in Dubai on Saturday, hoping to bag the ICC Champions Trophy, starting from February 18, for the second time since 2013. India had last won the ICC marquee event in England 12 years back under the legendary MS Dhoni. The players and support staff trooped into a waiting bus, in line with the new BCCI diktat of travelling as a group, before proceeding to the designated team hotel.