Confirmed! Rohit Sharma to Lead Team India in ICC Champions Trophy 2025; Squad Announcement on January 18

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Mumbai, Jan 17: Rohit Sharma will remain India's ODI captain and is set to lead the team in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to begin next month.

Sources confirmed this development to MyKhel on Friday, and the BCCI later announced that Rohit will address a press conference in Mumbai on January 18. During the event, the ODI squad for the England series and the Champions Trophy will be revealed.

Rohit, who guided India to a memorable T20 World Cup victory in the USA and West Indies in 2024, is aiming to add another ICC trophy to his captaincy record. However, he also bears the burden of leading the side in the 2023 ODI World Cup final defeat against Australia in Ahmedabad.

Criticism Over Form and Leadership

The 37-year-old Mumbaikar has faced mounting criticism for both his performance with the bat and his leadership decisions. Rohit has struggled for form recently, in the home series against New Zealand, where India suffered a 3-0 whitewash. Across six Test innings in that series, he managed only 91 runs at an average of 15.16.

The Mumbaikar's struggles continued in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia which Team India lost 3-1. Rohit's average dropped further to 6.20 across five innings of the highly anticipated Test series and one of the toughest challenges for Rohit as a skipper in his Test career. Rohit looked like a mere shadow of himself with the bat as he could only amass a total of 31 runs across five innings.

The rumours about his captaincy being under threat intensified after he opted out of the Sydney Test, owing to poor run as a batter as well as skipper, in Sydney Test, with Jasprit Bumrah stepping in as captain for the fifth and final match.

Preparations for Champions Trophy 2025

In an effort to regain his form, Rohit has been training with the Mumbai squad ahead of the Ranji Trophy's second phase. While it is unclear whether he will feature in Mumbai's upcoming Ranji games, footage from training sessions shows him practising with the white ball, suggesting his focus is firmly on limited-overs cricket.

With the Champions Trophy just weeks away, Rohit and thousands of his well-wishers would be hoping to silence his critics and solidify his legacy as one of India's most successful captains. For now, all eyes are on the press conference in Mumbai on January 18.