One chance, one trophy: Rohit Sharma has no choice but to do what Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni couldn't
Rohit Sharma will be the sixth player to lead India in a Champions Trophy and only two of the five in the past have actually won the title.
The 2025 Champions Trophy will be Rohit Sharma's third as a player but it will be his first as captain of the Indian team. India have a chance at pulling away from Australia and becoming the most successful team of all time in the history of the Champions Trophy if they win it this year. For Rohit, though, it is a chance to do something that even MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly - the two players who led India to the title in the past - couldn't do.

Rohit will be the sixth player to lead India in the tournament after Mohammed Azharuddin (1998), Sourav Ganguly (2000, 2002 and 2004), Rahul Dravid (2006), MS Dhoni (2009 and 2013) and Virat Kohli (2017). India won it in 2002 jointly with Sri Lanka, with the trophy having to be shared due to the final being washed out, and in 2013. For the captains on both occasions - Ganguly in 2002 and Dhoni in 2013 - those were their second time leading India in the tournament. If Rohit wins it this time, it would make him the first Indian to take the Champions Trophy on his first try as a captain. It would probably be a welcome relief for the 37-year-old who hasn't really had a great time of it as a captain or as a batter since winning the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Ganguly and Dhoni's captaincy debuts
Ganguly and Dhoni had rather contrasting fortunes captaining India for the first time in Champions Trophy. Ganguly's first was during a time when the tournament itself was significantly different. It was the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy held in Kenya and India went all the way through to the final. It was Ganguly's first year as captain of the team, having taken over in February 2000. Ganguly himself was India's highest scorer, making 117 off 130 balls while sharing an opening stand of 141 with Sachin Tendulkar. However, India were then restricted to 264/6 in 50 overs. Chris Cairns' unbeaten 102 off 113 balls then took New Zealand to their first win in an ICC tournament.
The final was only on the distant horizon for MS Dhoni's side in the 2009 Champions Trophy, by which point the tournament had somewhat settled into the format more familiar to present times. At the centre of India's first-round exit was a 54-run loss to Pakistan in their first match. Shoaib Malik's 126-ball 128 took Pakistan to a score of 302/9. Veteran Rahul Dravid was pretty much the only player who looked capable of keeping the chase alive scoring 76 in 103 balls but India were ultimately all out for 248 runs.
Success on second try
Regardless of whether the trophy was won outright or shared, the fact remains that both Ganguly and Dhoni could have a second go at the Champions Trophy and they made it count. It may not quite be the case for Rohit solely because of the latter's age. Dhoni and Ganguly were both was 30 years old when they lifted the trophy in 2013 and 2002 respectively. Rohit turns 38 this April.
It is unclear as to when, or indeed if, the next Champions Trophy will be held. As many as five editions of the tournament was held between 2000 and 2009 but only two took place between 2010 and 2020. The 2017 tournament was widely expected to be the las the world had seen of the Champions Trophy before it returned this year and there is no telling what its fate is after this year. It is hence pretty safe to say that unlike Ganguly and Dhoni, Rohit won't have the luxury of taking a second shot at the title.
India's recent run of form hasn't been convincing - before the poor run of form in Test cricket that led to them missing out on the WTC final, they lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka for the first time since 1997. But it is also worth remembering that this run comes after a clinical campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup. It will be interesting to see if India bookend this run of poor form with yet another ICC title and thus propel Rohit into a place not even Ganguly or Dhoni could get to on first try.
