 "Controversy over team selection! Not Shubman Gill, Gautam Gambhir’s choice, wanted to make Hardik Pandya vice captain: Report, Controversy over team selection! Gautam Gambhir’s choice, not Shubman Gill, wanted to make Hardik Pandya vice-captain: Report – News-Patiala Punjabi")
There is a controversy about the Indian team selected for the ICC Champions Trophy. The BCCI announced the 15-member squad at a press conference held at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday (January 18). Rohit Sharma will captain India in this tournament while Shubman Gill has been made the vice-captain. Now the news is coming that the head coach Gautam Gambhir wanted to make Hardik Pandya the vice-captain in the Champions Trophy.
According to a report published in Daily Jagran on Sunday, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir was in favor of making Hardik Pandya the vice-captain for the ICC tournament, but captain Rohit and chief selector Ajit Agarkar were in favor of Gill. Hardik was India’s vice-captain in the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup, but has since been dropped. After Rohit’s retirement from T20 internationals in June 2024, Hardik was all set to take over the Indian T20 team, but the decision was made to appoint Suryakumar Yadav as the captain.
Shubman Gill served as India’s vice-captain in the last ODI series against Sri Lanka in August 2024. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar emphasized this while announcing the Champions Trophy team. He said that Gill was the vice-captain and that is why he has been retained. According to information, Gambhir wanted Sanju Samson to be included in India’s Champions Trophy squad as a wicketkeeper-batsman, but Rohit and Agarkar wanted Rishabh Pant.
Sanju Samson Sun Gambhir’s choice
In 2024, Samson became the first batsman to score three T20 international centuries in a calendar year. India last played an ODI against South Africa on 21 December 2023, in which Samson scored 108 runs while batting at number three. The selectors and captain have picked Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper alongside KL Rahul in the Champions Trophy squad.
India Squad for Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Yashshwi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh.