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On the eve of the first ODI against England, Rohit was faced with questions about his future with the Indian team: ones he refused to answer currently as he gears up for the job ahead.
Rohit Sharma will lead India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. (PTI Photo)
Pushing 38 years of age and a decline in form in recent outings, much has been said about India skipper Rohit Sharma’s future with the Indian team post-Champions Trophy. But Rohit remains steadfast, focused on the job at hand, shushing conversations about his future on Wednesday.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are stepping into their ODI shoes with the series against England with an eye on the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025.
Rohit and Kohli are two of the three surviving members from India’s successful Champions Trophy side that won the final against England at Edgbaston in 2013. But the current form of the two stalwarts of India’s batting unit is a bit shaky.
The duo did not have the best of outings in the longest format of the game during India’s tour of Australia and on return to India, could not get back to scoring runs in domestic circuit either.
On the eve of the first ODI against England, Rohit was faced with questions about his future with the Indian team: ones he refused to answer currently as he gears up for the job ahead.
“How it is relevant that I talk about my future plans when there are three ODIs and a Champions Trophy? The reports (on my future) have been going on for a number of years and I am not here to clarify them,” Rohit exclaimed at the pre-match press conference.
“For me, the three games (against England) and the Champions Trophy is very important. My focus is on these games, and I will see what happens thereafter,” the India skipper added.
After the Champions Trophy, the Indian team will next tour England for a five-match Test series in June which will the first series of their next World Championship cycle.
Rohit’s form in Test cricket has been a concern, with the batter managing only 31 runs across five innings at an abysmal average of 6.20 in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
According to reports, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal have emerged as the likely candidates for the captaincy roles in Tests and ODIs. It also seems possible that Gill, who is already the vice-captain in ODIs, could be elevated to the full-time captaincy role in the near future.
