'Won’t be surprised if Rohit Sharma repeats his 2019 World Cup heroics in Champions Trophy 2025': WC-winner's massive verdict on India captain

Suresh Raina backs Rohit Sharma ahead of Champions Trophy

Meanwhile, former India's star batter Suresh Raina has backed Rohit and said that he won't be surprised if he ends up replicating his 2019 ODI World Cup in Champions Trophy 2025. Rohit's recent form hasn't been up to the mark. He endured a tough outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to an extent that he had to drop himself in the fifth and final Test in Sydney. His back-to-back flop show in the Test series also led to his retirement debate questioning his place in Team India set up. The 37-year-old scored just 31 runs across five innings in the Test series against Australia.

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Despite Rohit's sluggish form, Suresh Raina believes that the Indian skipper can regain his form and achieve success in the Champions Trophy. Talking about Rohit's superlative run in the 2019 World Cup, he was the leading run-scorer in the tournament with a tally of 648 runs in nine innings. He cracked five centuries and a half-century, to set a new world record.

“When Rohit wasn’t selected in the 2011 World Cup team, he felt really bad. Hence, he wanted to make it count in the Champions Trophy 2013. The conditions in Dubai will be completely different from the last time we won in England and he knows how to handle that situation. If Rohit ends up playing till 20–25 overs, I won’t be surprised if he repeats his 2019 World Cup heroics,” said Raina on the Star Sports Press Room show.

Since his outstanding performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup, the Hitman has played in only three matches against Sri Lanka, scoring 157 runs from three innings at an average of 52.33 with two half-centuries. Despite these contributions, India lost the series 0-2. Earlier, in the 2023 World Cup, Rohit played a crucial role in providing explosive starts for India throughout the tournament. He finished as the second-highest run-scorer of the event, accumulating 597 runs from 11 innings at an average of 54.27 with one century and three half-centuries.

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Rohit enjoyed a phenomenal year in 2023 in ODI cricket. He amassed 1255 runs from 26 innings at an average of 52.29 and a strike rate of 117.07, including two centuries and nine half-centuries. India would want Rohit to fire with the bat in the Champions Trophy to boost their title hopes.