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Rohit Sharma-led Team India secured a series clean sweep in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series at home against England. However, veteran Indian batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s return to form was a positive seeing the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy ahead, but India’s batting order drew a lot of scrutiny, especially in regards with KL Rahul.
In one the notable moves, KL Rahul was preferred over star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant in the three-match ODI series. Furthermore, all-rounder Axar Patel was promoted up the order, leaving KL Rahul with minimal involvement in the two successful chases as the Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff once again prioritised left-right combination.
KL Rahul is our no. 1 wicketkeeper: Gautam Gambhir on KL Rahul’s fate in CT 2025
After receiving a lot of criticism on this move, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir finally opened up, confirming the Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul’s fate for the highly-anticipated Champions Trophy 2025. Speaking after the completion of the ODI series against England, Gambhir said, "KL is our No 1 wicketkeeper and this is what I can say at the moment. Rishabh Pant will get his chance but at the moment it is KL who has done well and we cannot play two wicketkeeper-batters."
"I know a lot of people talk about it, but that's the way we got to play the game, and that's the way cricket should be played. It's not about the batting order; it's about who can create what impact. If you have the option of putting a quality left-hand batter in the middle, why wouldn't you do that?" Gambhir further added.
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.
