He feels that he has lost his spot in the playing XI due to an external reason.
A shocking development has come in just two days before the Men in Blue’s Champions Trophy 2025 opener against Bangladesh. A top wicketkeeper is reportedly unhappy with head coach Gautam Gambhir. According to a report in Times Now, the player, who has not been named, is currently not the first choice to make India’s playing XI in ODIs. The report adds that the player thinks that he has lost his spot in the playing XI due to an external reason.
KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are the designated wicketkeepers for Team India in the upcoming Champions Trophy. Rahul was preferred over Pant in the three ODIs against England at home. He scored 52 runs from three matches (including a knock of 40 in the third ODI). The Karnataka batter was impressive in the 2023 ODI World Cup as he scored 452 runs from 10 innings at an average of 75.33.
Pant, on the other hand, has played just one ODI since returning to cricket after his horrific car accident in December 2022. That was against Sri Lanka in the Island nation last year, when he scored just six runs.
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This is not the first time a member of Team India has been reportedly involved in a conflict with Gambhir. There were rumours of tension in the dressing room during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia which India embarrassingly lost 1-3. Gambhir was reportedly unhappy with a young player leaking dressing room information.
There was also a report regarding a “Mr Fix-It” who aspired to become the captain of the Indian cricket team on an interim basis. India, led by Rohit Sharma, will hope to get their Champions Trophy campaign off to a winning start when they face Bangladesh in a Group A clash in Dubai on Thursday. Hosts Pakistan and New Zealand are the other teams in the group.
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