GUWAHATI, Jan 19: Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir was in favour of including Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson in the Indian team for the upcoming Champions Trophy while advocating Hardik Pandya’s name for vice-captain, a report by frontline Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran stated.
Gambhir’s wishes, however, were turned down as skipper Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar viewed both cases differently. While Rohit and Agarkar favoured Rishabh Pant as first-choice wicket-keeper, Shubman Gill was named Rohit’s deputy in the squad that was named yesterday.
Meanwhile, Ajit Agarkar said star pacer Jasprit Bumrah may not get fit for the first two ODIs against England and hence named Harshit Rana as his replacement.
While Team India face England in three ODIs on February 6, 9 and 12, they begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on February 20.
