Fresh rift in Team India, star cricketer blames Gautam Gambhir for dropping him from Champions Trophy XI: Report

Is Everything okay within Team India? Overcoming the horrors of the Australia tour, they did put in a great show in the white-ball series against England, beating them 4-1 in the T20Is and sweeping the ODIs 3-0 but all is not well in the team. There is tension in the Indian dressing room as reports of a fresh rift started doing rounds on Tuesday, two days before India's Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium in UAE. According to a report published in Times Now, a top Indian cricketer has blamed head coach Gautam Gambhir for not considering him as the first-choice wicketkeeper in India's Champions Trophy XI. India head coach Gautam Gambhir with his support staff and captain Rohit Sharma

The report did not mention the keeper-batter's name or confirm whether the player is part of India's Champions Trophy squad, but considering the position it mentions, there are not too many names to guess from.

"Sources have exclusively confirmed to Times Now that a current India wicketkeeper is unhappy with head coach Gautam Gambhir. The player is currently not the first choice in the playing XI for ODIs. He feels that there is an external reason behind him losing his spot in the 50-over format," the report said.

Who can be the cricketer concerned?

Surely not KL Rahul. He is India's first-choice keeper-batter in the Champions Trophy. The right-handed batter has been India's preferred keeper and No.6 batter in 50-overs cricket for quite some time now. He was one of India's top performers in the lead-up to the ODI World Cup. For someone, who has been an opening batter right throughout his career, Rahul seamlessly adjusted to the role of batting in the middle order. As a designated keeper-batter in the ODIs, the man from Karnataka has scored 1438 runs at an average of 51.35 at a strike rate of 92.17. Although he didn't get to bat much in the England ODIs, coach Gambhirn confirmed that he will start as India's designated keeper-batter in the first match of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh.

The other keeper-batter in India's Champions Trophy squad is Rishabh Pant. The left-hander hurt his knee during a practice session on Sunday in Dubai and was seen limping even on Monday. India would hope the injury to Pant, who did not get to play in the ODIs against England, is nothing serious.

Two other cricketers were in contention but missed out of a spot in India's Champions Trophy squad. Sanju Samson, who has risen as India's first-choice keeper in T20Is and Ishan Kishan. Ever since not complying with BCCI's instructions of participating in domestic cricket, Kishan has not been considered for selection. Before that, when Rishabh Pant was injured, Kishan was a regular in India's white-ball set-up. He even scored a double century against Bangladesh and was India's reserve keeper in the ODI World Cup.

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