Was Rohit Sharma forcibly stripped of the ODI captaincy? Coach Gambhir came under fire for his comments on the 'Hitman'!

Indian team star batsman Rohit Sharma appeared in public for the first time since being removed from the ODI captaincy. On Tuesday, October 7th, he was given a special honor at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards ceremony in Mumbai.

Former Indian captain Rohit received a special memento for winning the 2025 Champions Trophy as captain. During the ceremony, he credited Rahul Dravid, not coach Gautam Gambhir, for that victory.

It's worth noting that when India won the Champions Trophy earlier this year, Gambhir was the head coach, not Rahul Dravid. Following Rohit's statement, people are linking it to the Hitman being forcibly stripped of the ODI captaincy.

Rohit Sharma Receives Special Award

In fact, Rohit Sharma said that the credit for India's recent victories goes not only to him, but to the hard work and thinking of the team that has been in place since Rahul Dravid's time. He explained that after losing the 2023 World Cup final, the team didn't give up and worked together, resulting in victories in the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Rohit said,

"Look, I love that team. Playing with them was a wonderful experience. It wasn't just a year or two, but a journey that spanned many years. We came very close to winning the trophy several times, but couldn't finish. Then everyone decided we had to do something different."

He further said, "Just thinking doesn't do anything; it needs to be implemented. It can't be done by just one or two players; the entire team has to be on board with that vision. The good thing was that every player embraced that idea. All the players who played in the Champions Trophy had thought about how to win matches, how to challenge themselves, and not take anything for granted."

It should be noted that after the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rahul Dravid's tenure ended and Gautam Gambhir became the coach. It was under Gambhir's coaching that India won the 2025 Champions Trophy.

Praising Rahul Dravid

The Hitman also said that after winning the first match, we immediately put it behind us and started focusing on the next match. This attitude helped Rahul Bhai and me while planning for the 2024 T20 World Cup, and we continued it until the Champions Trophy.

What did Rohit say about being stripped of the ODI captaincy?

Rohit Sharma also said about being stripped of the captaincy of the Indian ODI team during the Australia tour,

"I have always taken pride in performing well in all three formats. Whenever I got the opportunity, I tried to prove myself, and some of the other players did the same. This had an impact on the entire team. I love playing against Australia. Playing there is always a big challenge, and people there love cricket very much."