Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and others spotted at Mumbai airport departing for 2025 Champions Trophy [Watch]

Team India stars including skipper Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli were spotted at the Mumbai airport on Saturday, February 15. The Men in Blue contingent left for Dubai for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy.

The Champions Trophy returns after an eight-year hiatus. The ICC event will feature the top eight teams of ODI cricket and will be hosted by Pakistan, the defending champions.

However, following India's refusal to play on Pakistani soil, their matches were shifted to Dubai. All the games featuring Rohit Sharma and Co. will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The video of Sharma, Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, and other Team India cricketers entering the Mumbai airport was posted on photojournalist Viral Bhayani's Instagram page. You can watch the clip below:

The Rohit Sharma-led India side will open their 2025 Champions Trophy campaign on February 20. They will take on Bangladesh in their first match of the 50-over tournament. India are placed in Group A alongside Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand.

The much-awaited India-Pakistan clash will be played on February 23. India's final group-stage match will be against New Zealand on March 2.

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"There is a strong possibility" - Aakash Chopra feels 2025 Champions Trophy could be the last ICC event for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja

Team India's senior players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja retired from T20Is following the side's 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. Former cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy potentially be the final ICC event for the trio, given their age.

Suggesting that there was no surety of the three seasoned campaigners being around for the 2027 ODI World Cup, here's what Chopra said in his YouTube video (quoted by India TV):

"I am saying with a heavy heart that you are right. There is a strong possibility. The Champions Trophy is about to happen, and after that, there will be another ICC event this year, which is the WTC (World Test Championship) final, and we haven't reached there. So none among Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja will play that.

"After that, the ICC event next year is the T20 World Cup, but all three have retired from that format. So all three won't play there as well. The ODI World Cup will be in 2027, which is a bit too far. The world will look very different by 2027. I think the players also feel this could be their last."

It is worth mentioning that Kohli, Sharma and Jadeja were also part of India's 2013 Champions Trophy-winning squad. Kohli captained India in the next edition in 2017, where the team suffered a 180-run defeat to Pakistan in the final.