Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar disagree over India's Champions Trophy 2025 squad; here's why

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the upcoming three bilateral ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy 2025. A report claimed that before the decision, head coach Gautam Gambhir, skipper Rohit Sharma, and chief selector Ajit Agarkar had different opinions.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, Gambhir was overruled on two major decisions regarding the CT 2025 team selection. One was that he wanted Hardik Pandya to be vice-captain, but Rohit and Agarkar insisted on Shubman Gill's name.

The second suggestion of Gambhir, which Rohit and Agarkar didn't agree with, was to include Sanju Samson in the squad. Instead, Rishabh Pant was ultimately chosen in the squad.

On Saturday, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said Jasprit Bumrah may not get fit for the first two ODIs against England, and instead of him, Harshit Rana was named as his replacement.

Rana was even named in the squad for the Champions Trophy that follows the three-match rubber against England.

Agarkar on Bumrah:

"Bumrah has been told to off-load for five weeks after and he won't be available for the first two ODIs against England. We are waiting on his fitness and will know his status in early February from the medical team," PTI quoted Agarkar as saying during a press conference.

He added, “We'll probably hear more over the next week or so about his fitness. It would have been nicer if BCCI had (given the update)... I might say the wrong thing here. I know he was asked to offload for five weeks of bowling, which is early first week February, if I'm not wrong.”

He continued, "We'll probably find out a bit more around that time. What exactly (it is) and with regards to what his medical condition is, I'm sure BCCI might just put something out from the physio itself.”

Agarkar on Shami:

Meanwhile in December, skipper Rohit had sought answers from the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru on Mohammed Shami's fitness. On Saturday, Agarkar too made the same point.

"It's better it comes from the medical department than me trying to explain what exactly is wrong with him (Bumrah), but that's the time frame that we've been told and hopefully, he's okay after that. We are very hopeful,” he added.

India squad for Champions Trophy 2025:

Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja.

With agency inputs.