Champions Trophy 2025: Star Indian batter unhappy with Gautam Gambhir on being dropped from playing XI

According to reports published on Times Now, star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is unhappy with Gautam Gambhir on warming the bench during the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to start on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai.

According to the source, Pant is of the opinion that there are external reasons behind his axing from the starting XI. Notably, Rishabh Pant didn’t make it to the XI in the recently concluded ODI series against England.

While Yashasvi Jaiswal, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Harshit Rana made their respective ODI debuts, Pant was seen warming the bench with KL Rahul opted as the first-choice keeper-batter in the 50-over format.

After the ODI series win against England, Gambhir stated his views of having KL Rahul as the Indian team’s first choice keeper-batter in ODIs.

“At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he’s delivered for us. And see, when you’ve got two wicketkeepers in this squad, you can’t play both the wicketkeepers with the kind of quality we’ve got. Hopefully, whenever he (Pant) gets that opportunity, he should be ready for it. That’s all I can say at the moment. Right now, KL is the one who’s going to start,” Gambhir told media after the series.

"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 Times Now report read.

It’s important to note that Rishabh Pant was hit on his knee off Hardik Pandya’s delivery ahead of India’s Champions Trophy game against Bangladesh. Nevertheless, this might not be a setback for India moving into the tournament opener.

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