Champions Trophy 2025 : What Prompted India Management To Hand Vice-Captaincy Duties To Shubman Gill?- REVEALED

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Champions Trophy 2025 : Rohit Sharma-led Indian team has announced India's squad for Champions Trophy on Saturday as the Men in Blue look to surpass Australia as the most successful team in the tournament's history.

The vice-captaincy, a topic of much speculation, has been handed to Shubman Gill over other contenders like Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and Jasprit Bumrah.

Gill's prior experience as vice-captain during the T20I and ODI series against Sri Lanka influenced this decision.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained that the dressing room's feedback supported Gill, highlighting his leadership potential. The former India cricketer noted that while few players lead their state teams nowadays, the selectors are always looking for leadership qualities.

"Shubman was vice-captain in Sri Lanka anyway, I wouldn't read too much into it. A lot of the feedback comes from the dressing room. You also want to keep your options open. One of the challenges is that not many are leading their state teams nowadays... but you are always on the lookout for anyone who has got some leadership qualities," Agarkar said.

Gill is also vice-captain for the ODI series against England, further cementing his role as a key leader. India's Champions Trophy campaign begins on February 20 against Bangladesh, followed by a clash with Pakistan on February 23 and their final group game against New Zealand on March 2.

As the Indian team will play their matches in Dubai, if they somehow reach the final, the summit clash will also be held in the UAE.

India's squad for Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal

India's squad for ODI series against England: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.