Rohit Sharma and the Indian team's low points served as a major disappointment for the Indian fans until the Champions Trophy 2025. The Men in Blue suffered some horrific results at the end of 2024 and the start of 2025, which put their confidence for the 50-over global tournament in question.
India suffered a three-match Test series whitewash at home for the first time in the latter part of 2024 as New Zealand swept the Rohit Sharma-led team at their own backyard. India had lost a Test series 2-0 before, but a 3-0 drubbing at home was a never-seen-before thing. That followed the 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series Down Under as the Indian team conceded the prestigious trophy for the first time after 10 years.
Rohit's place in the team and his future in the Test format were under serious question marks. He missed the first Test, the only one India won, due to the birth of his child and then opted out of the final Test match due to his poor form.
While India comprehensively won the T20I and ODI series against England before the Champions Trophy, the preceding events had pegged their confidence. The India captain Rohit, has opened up on the disappointing run ahead of the Champions Trophy, saying that he and his team wanted to bounce back in the global tournament.
"We had to go through so many lows before the Champions Trophy - We didn't had a great home series against New Zealand and then Australia as well, so we wanted to turn things back - we wanted to bounce back," Rohit said at the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.
He also shed light on him missing the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney. "I have to be honest to myself, I wasn't hitting the ball well - we some how wanted Gill to play, he is such a good player, he missed out on the previous Test - I spoke to the coach, the selector - they kind of agreed, not agreed - you try to put the team first and what team wants, make the decision accordingly - that is how it goes," he added.
