Team India's brand new tri-coloured themed jersey for Champions Trophy revealed

The Rohit Sharma-led Indian men's team is all set to wear a brand-new jersey in the three-match ODI contest against England at home ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy. The series will begin on Thursday at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. India's Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar during a practice session ahead of the first ODI match against England, at VCA stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday (Snehal Sontakke)

Compared to the previous ODI jersey, which India wore during the tour of Sri Lanka in July last year, the new kit has a tri-colour gradient on the shoulder blades. The jersey will be worn by the Indian men's team during the England ODI series and the Champions Trophy, however, it was first worn by the Harmanpreet Kaur-led women's team during the recently-concluded home series against Ireland last month. In fact, the jersey was unveiled by former BCCI secretary and now ICC Chairman Jay Shah, along with the women's team, in November last year.

New jersey, fresh wins

Donning the new kit, India will look to put their past troubles behind as they gear up for their final preparations for the Champions Trophy. Having last played an ODI game in July 2024, the series against England is all the more crucial for the team management to lock in on their final playing XI for the Champions Trophy, amid uncertainty over whether the Men in Blue will play a practice game in Dubai before the tournament.

All eyes will be on captain Rohit and Virat Kohli, who have been under tremendous scrutiny after their dismal run in red-ball cricket. The two stars, after making hyped but disappointing appearances in Ranji Trophy last month, will be eyeing strong performances in a format that they have dominated for several years. They were the top two run-getters of the 2023 World Cup with Kohli scoring 765 and Rohit smashing 597.

India will also need to figure out whether their bowling attack can withstand the pressure amid concerns over Jasprit Bumrah's fitness. The 31-year-old, who is recovering from back spasms and has been out of action since the first week of January, has yet to be confirmed for the Champions Trophy despite the pacer being named for the tournament. This implies that the onus will be on Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh during the England ODI series.

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