Reports: Gautam Gambhir wanted Hardik Pandya as vice-captain, Rohit Sharma had differing opinion

The Indian board aka BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) recently came forward and revealed India’s squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. Notably, before addressing the press, with Rohit Sharma as the skipper, the BCCI held a long meeting to handle discussions around the squad.

However, recent reports have emerged which have stated that head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma had differing opinions regarding choosing the Vice Captain of the Indian squad. Notably, Shubman Gill was named as the Rohit's deputy. However, some reports have emerged which state that Gambhir wanted Hardik Pandya to be India’s vice-captain, but Rohit and Agarkar agreed upon Gill. 

Furthermore, Gambhir was also in favour of choosing Sanju Samson on the side, but Rohit was happy to go with Rishabh Pant as the first choice.

There should not be any blame game: Basit Ali

After Team India’s loss in the recent BGT 2024-25, there had been reports of leaking of Gautam Gambhir’s chats with the Indian players. Reacting to such rumours, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali came forward and opined that such reports harm Indian cricket, and advised Gautam Gambhir to sort out the matter.

"Sarfaraz Khan was blamed for leaking the dressing room conversation to the media and even the review meeting conversation came out in the open. It is not good for the team as it impacts the team unity. There should not be any blame game and Gautam Gambhir should play a role in stopping it. There was no Sarfaraz Khan in the meeting between the captain, coach, chief selector and the BCCI officials,” Basit Ali was quoted as saying by Crictroday.

“If you win against England, it will be better for you ahead of the Champions Trophy, but if you lose, the confidence level will go down,” he added.