India have dominated the 2025 Champions Trophy, yet former captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes they haven’t reached their full potential due to a few key weaknesses. While Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer’s excellent form has strengthened the batting lineup, Gavaskar feels India would benefit from stronger starts by openers Shubman Gill and captain Rohit Sharma.
“India hasn’t quite played to their full potential, especially when it comes to their opening partnerships. They haven’t given the team the kind of start they were hoping for, and that’s been a missing factor,” Gavaskar said in an interview with India Today. Rohit and Gill’s opening partnerships have only lasted beyond five overs once in the entire tournament, and that was when they managed 69 runs in the first nine overs.
He also highlighted concerns in the bowling department. Although India picked up five wickets in the first nine overs of their opening match against Bangladesh, their powerplay bowling has been inconsistent since then. Additionally, they have struggled to break crucial partnerships in the middle overs. “Even with the new ball, you want to take wickets in the first 10 overs ideally two or three but that hasn’t quite been happening,” Gavaskar noted.
“During the middle overs, they’ve struggled to take wickets, even though the runs haven’t been flowing easily. So, improving in these areas would certainly boost their chances of winning the final,” Gavaskar added.
India initially played with two specialist pacers and three spinners, but in their final group match against New Zealand, they added Varun Chakravarthy as a fourth spinner. His match-winning performance earned him the Player of the Match award, and he followed it up with another impressive outing against Australia. Gavaskar now believes India should retain this combination for the final against New Zealand on Sunday.
“When it comes to spinners, I think there should be four. There’s no reason to change now. The inclusion of Chakravarthy and Kuldeep has proven how effective they can be. Wicket-taking deliveries are essentially the best dot balls in any limited-overs format, and they’ve been doing exactly that. There’s no need for any changes in this aspect,” said Gavaskar.