Shubman Gill appointed ODI captain for Australia series; Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli named in ODI side

Chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, while addressing the media after India’s victory over West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium was asked what the idea was in replacing Rohit as captain. “It’s practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats, just in terms of planning,” Agarkar noted before adding: “Obviously, at some stage, you’ve also got to start looking at when the next World Cup is. It’s (ODI) is also a format which is played the least now. So you don’t get that many games to actually give the next captain to give them that much time to prepare himself or plan.”

The selectors had also kept head coach Gautam Gambhir in the loop about the change of leadership in ODI cricket; from Rohit to Gill.

The baton passing from Rohit, who is 38, to Gill, who is over a decade younger, is a major change of guard. Shreyas Iyer has been named Gill’s deputy. Suryakumar Yadav was retained as the captain for the three-match T20 series post the ODI series in Australia.

In his maiden Test series as captain, Gill amassed 754 runs in five matches in England, averaging 75.40 with four centuries. The hard-fought series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy ended in a 2-2 scoreline. Even in the T20 squad, Gill is a vital member as he opens the innings with Abhishek Sharma, his Punjab teammate. Gill has played 55 ODI and scored 2775 runs at an average of 59.04 with eight centuries, including a 208 against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 2023.

It is understood that Rohit and Kohli remain in the scheme of things for ODIs for now but will be playing their first competitive matches in eight months. Their last game was the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand, which India won under Rohit’s captaincy by beating New Zealand by four wickets in Dubai.

Rohit captained the Indian white-ball team to two ICC trophies, the T20 World Cup in the West Indies last year and the Champions Trophy title this year. However, after a poor series against Australia, he stood down for the final Test in Sydney because of lack of runs.

“Runs are not coming but there is no guarantee that you won’t be able to score two months down the line or six months down the line. I am mature enough to know what I am doing,” Rohit had told the official broadcaster. However, in May he stepped down from Test captaincy ahead of the five-match series in England which resulted in the elevation of Gill as Test skipper.