 "IND vs NZ, Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma's hamstring injury likely to rule him out of New Zealand clash")
synopsis
Rohit Sharma sustained hamstring injury during India's win against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 clash on Sunday.
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma’s availability for the Men in Blue’s final group stage encounter against New Zealand remains doubtful after he sustained hamstring injury during the team’s win against Pakistan on Sunday.
Team India players were on a 2-day break after officially qualifying for the semifinal following two successive wins against Bangladesh and Pakistan in the group stage. After a short break, Indian players returned to training ahead of the clash against New Zealand, who also qualified for the semifinal. However, the concern has been around Rohit Sharma’s fitness after he sustained a hamstring injury in India’s six-wicket win against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit Sharma revealed that his hamstring injury was ‘okay’. There have been no reports or updates on the Indian skipper’s fitness ahead of the match against New Zealand. However, the report by Times of India (TOI) suggested that Rohit was not moving freely during the team’s practice session and did not take any demanding physical activity right from the beginning of the session. The report further added that the 37-year-old did not face any throwdowns throughout the session.
However, Rohit Sharma began to jog slowly in the ground with strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai keeping a close watch on him to ensure that there was no discomfort while running. Team India cannot afford to have an injury setback when they have inched closer to winning the Champions Trophy by securing their qualification for the semifinal.
Rohit Sharma has had decent outings in the first two matches of the group stage against Bangladesh and Pakistan. In India’s opening match against Bangladesh, India skipper 41 off 36 balls in the team’s 229-run chase. In the following clash against arch-rivals Pakistan, Sharma scored 20 off 15 balls in India’s 242-run chase. Rohit Sharma’s form is crucial for Team India in the semifinal and the management is likely to give him a rest from the final group stage match against New Zealand.
Virat Kohli involved in intense training session
Team India star batter Virat Kohli sweated out hard during the team’s practice session after a break as he faced all kinds of bowling in the nets. As per the report by Press Trust of India (PTI), Kohli faced Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and a couple of net bowlers to gear up for the match against New Zealand. In the match against Pakistan, the 36-year-old showed his glimpse of his return to form as he played a brilliant match-winning innings of 100 off 107 balls.
Meanwhile, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel returned to setup after attending the funeral of his father, who passed away last week ahead of the match against Bangladesh. The former South Africa pacer was spotted having a long chat with head coach Gautam Gambhir. Despite injury concerns on Mohammed Shami, the veteran pacer bowled in full throttle alongside Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh.
It is likely that Team India management will rest a few players from the match against New Zealand in order to get them ready for the semifinal.
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