It was Dravid...: Rohit Sharma omits Gambhir's name from Champions Trophy credit list; breaks silence on ODI return

Under Rohit and Dravid, India managed to bounce back from the heartbreaking loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final at home against Ahmedabad to win the next two ICC trophies - the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

"Look, I love that team, loved playing with them and it's a journey that we were all into, for many years. It's not about one year or two years of work. It was about getting into work from many years," Rohit said.

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"We'd come so close to winning that trophy many times, but we couldn't just get over the line. That is where everyone decided that we need to do something different and there's two (ways) to look at it."

"There's always a thought of doing that and then actually going and doing that. It cannot be done by one or two players. We needed everyone to buy into that thought, which was good from everyone," Rohit said.

The 38-year-old, who was honoured with a special memento for leading India to the Champions Trophy haul during the 27th edition of the CEAT Cricket Rating awards in Mumbai on Tuesday, further revealed the details around the team's philosophy during the two ICC events.

"All the guys who took part in that competition (Champions Trophy) got into that thought process of how to win games and how to challenge ourselves and not be complacent and not to take anything for granted," he said.

"Those were the qualities that we tried to bring in and we thought it was a good method of just going and doing that repeatedly. Everyone enjoyed that process. Once we got over the line when we won the first game, we completely put that game aside and then started focusing on the next one."

"That was really good from the team and that is something that helped me and Rahul bhai when we were planning for the (2024) T20 World Cup, and then on to the Champions Trophy. We just carried it well.

"In 2023, although we didn't cross the line in the finals, we set out to do something as a team and everyone did that," he added.

Notably, Dravid's tenure ended after India's 2024 T20 World Cup win, and Gambhir assumed the role in July last year. Hence, it was the latter who was the head coach at the time of India's Champions Trophy win in Dubai earlier this year.

Rohit breaks silence on Australia tour selection

While the reason behind Rohit’s omission of Gambhir from his speech in Mumbai remains open to speculation, the former World Cup winner is believed to have played a central role in his removal as ODI captain. According to a PTI report on Sunday, both Gambhir and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar felt it was time for a younger leader to take charge ahead of the 2027 World Cup, while also harbouring doubts over Rohit’s place in India’s long-term ODI plans.

However, having been offered the opportunity to prove his worth, Rohit is all geared up for the challenge in Australia, where India will play three ODIs, starting October 19.

"I personally took a lot of pride in trying to excel in all three forms whenever I had the opportunity and that is something that a few others also did and that eventually rubbed off on the team as well," Rohit said.

"I love playing against them. I love going to Australia. It's a very challenging country to play cricket. People there love the game as well," he said, talking about the Australia tour.

"But certainly, Australia is a different challenge every time they have played against us. Having been there now several times, I do understand what to expect. Hopefully we can go there and do what the Indian team is supposed to do and get the result in our favour," he said.

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