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Ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy campaign opener against Bangladesh, India skipper Rohit Sharma defended young opener Shubman Gill's appointment as a vice-captain, saying his ODI numbers are quite "crazy" for the last three-four years.
, followed by matches against arch-rivals Pakistan (February 23) and New Zealand (March 2). As per the hybrid model, India will play all its matches in Dubai instead of Pakistan. "Gill is a very classy player. We tend to mix formats which I think is not fair. We have no doubt about his ability in this format. Players have strengths in certain formats. With Gill, we know that his numbers are crazy. Hopefully he has a great tournament and eventually it will help us," Rohti said in pre-match press conference. In 103 international matches, Gill has scored 5,058 runs at an average of 43.60, with 13 centuries and 25 fifties in 130 innings and best score of 208. Gill does need some improvements in his Test statistics, as they do not reflect his true talent. In 32 Tests and 59 innings, he has made 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05, with five centuries and seven fifties and best score of 128. In 21 T20Is, he has made 578 runs at an average of 30.42, with a strike rate of 139.27. He has a century and three fifties in the format. His best format remains the ODIs, where he has the most runs after 50 innings currently, outdoing South African great Hashim Amla (2,486 runs). In 50 matches and 50 innings, he has made 2,587 runs at an average of 60.16, with seven centuries and 15 fifties. His best score is 208. Speaking about selecting five spinners, Rohit said that priority was on picking players who have two skills. "We have two spinners (Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy) and other three are all-rounders (Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar). Those spinners can bat too. Those three guys Jadeja, Axar and Washi add a lot to the team. We stick with our strengths and try to run our team. They all give us different dimensions to the game. We wanted players who have two skills," he said. On playing against two net bowlers, one of Pakistan origin and other of Afghanistan origin, Rohit said, "Those net bowlers were really good and they were both quality bowlers. I had a chat with them after the nets." Rohit expressed satisfaction with India's brand of cricket before the tournament, saying that it is about adapting in Dubai now. "There were not enough games before we played this tournament, but the brand of cricket we play we managed to do well. We ticked all boxes. We restricted opposition to a below par total and scored over 350 also against England. Every series is a challenge and Dubai also brings a certain kind of challenge. It is time to adapt quickly. You cannot really think of conditions all the time," he added. India will miss the services of its pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah as he has been ruled out due to a lower back injury. Young pacer Harshit Rana has made his way into the team as a replacement. Bumrah has been missing from on-field action since January. His last appearance was in Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Sydney. After bowling 10.1 overs in the first innings, the A-Lister was visibly in discomfort and went for scans. He was advised by the Australian doctors not to participate in the remainder of the Sydney Test. He came out to bat in the second innings but did not take up his duties with the ball. Also, spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been drafted into the squad following fine performances against England in home T20Is. Bumrah has been missing from on-field action since January. His last appearance was in Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Sydney. On the other hand, young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has been omitted from the team and placed in non-travelling reserves after being named in the main squad initially. This comes after his ODI debut in the three-match series opener against England. In his ODI debut, the young southpaw failed to deliver with the bat and flopped with a knock of 15(22). In the second ODI, Jaiswal was dropped from the playing XI for Virat Kohli, and Chakaravarthy made his ODI debut. He returned with figures of 1/54 in his 10-over spell. India's squad for ICC Champions Trophy, 2025: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy. Non-travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. The three players will travel to Dubai as and when required. (ANI)
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