Rohit Sharma's captaincy future to be decided after IND vs NZ 2025 Champions Trophy final: Reports

Rohit Sharma-led India are all set set to face New Zealand in the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy on Sunday, March 9, in Dubai. India are unbeaten in the tournament heading into the final.

According to a report by The Times of India, the future of Rohit Sharma the captain will be decided after the final of the ongoing Champions Trophy. The outcome of the final is likely to determine how the team will prepare for the ODI World Cup in 2027.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning for stable leadership keeping the next two years and the World Cup in mind. There could be a possible discussion of looking beyond Rohit Sharma as the captain in Tests and ODIs.

The report added that chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir have had discussions regarding the same with the BCCI and Rohit himself after India's tour of Australia.

“Rohit still believes there is some cricket left in him. He has been told to communicate his plans going forward. Retiring is his call but there will be another discussion around continuing with captaincy. Rohit himself understands the need to have a stable captain if the team wants to prepare for a World Cup. There have been talks with Kohli too but there doesn’t seem to be much anxiety around him,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying.

“The board will wait for Rohit’s decision after the Champions Trophy. If by any chance he chooses to retire, then the board will see what needs to be done. One can’t discount the fact that he won the T20 World Cup in July and has led well in the Champions Trophy as well," the source added.

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BCCI to announce central contracts after Champions Trophy final

While the BCCI normally announces the central contracts for players before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, the aforementioned report claims that the board will do so after the final of the 2025 Champions Trophy.

The BCCI was keen to see how the team fared after a poor Test season. As per the report, the board might choose to revisit the Grade A+ contracts; Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja currently hold Grade A+ contracts.

This is given to players who perform in all three formats. However, with Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja retiring from T20Is, and their peformances over the Test season not being great, some concerns have arisen over the same.

Their performances in the 2025 Champions Trophy could help them retain their contracts. Kohli in particular has performed admirably in the marquee ICC event, amassing one hundred and one fifty. Given his consistent performances, Shreyas Iyer is also likely regain his central contract after being removed due to disciplinary issues last year.