In a decision that marks a changing of the guard, the national selection committee on Saturday named Shubman Gill as India’s One-Day International captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, as it announced the squad for the three-match ODI series in Australia later this month.
Rohit and Virat Kohli, the two ODI giants of Indian cricket in this era, have been named in the squad but the promotion of 26-year-old Gill, also the Test captain, was done with an eye on the 2027 World Cup by which time Rohit will be 40.
The selectors informed Rohit, who captained India to two successive ICC white-ball trophies, in advance about the decision to remove him as ODI skipper and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar spoke to him again on Friday night, The Indian Express has learnt.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir was consulted as well before the selection committee met on the sidelines of the India-West Indies Test match in Ahmedabad on Saturday. Gill joined the meeting during the lunch break.
Shreyas Iyer was named vice-captain of the ODI team, while Suryakumar Yadav was retained as T20I skipper as expected with Gill being his deputy.
The change in captaincy was done “in the best interest of the team” and having three different captains in three formats was “not practical”, Agarkar said.
Kohli, who will turn 37 next month, had reached out to the selectors earlier to seek clarity about his future in the ODI team, a source told The Indian Express.
The inclusion of Rohit and Kohli, both of whom play for India only in ODIs now, in future squads will be based on merit. They have been asked to play domestic white-ball cricket to remain sharp with ODI matches few and far between before the T20 World Cup early next year.
Asked the all-important question about the two veteran batsmen and the possibility of them playing until the 2027 World Cup, Agarkar said, “That is the format they are playing at the moment and we picked them. As far as the 2027 World Cup is concerned, I don’t think we need to talk about it today, obviously with the captaincy change that’s generally the thought.”
When asked how Rohit reacted to being removed as captain, Agarkar said, “that is a conversation between me and Rohit or the selectors and Rohit. But like I said, of course, it has been communicated to him.”
Agarkar said a key reason to appoint Gill as captain was to give him enough time to grow into the role with not too many ODI games currently scheduled before the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Though they considered retaining Rohit as skipper, the selectors didn’t want a situation where he has an injury or fitness issue closer to the World Cup and a new captain has to be thrown into the deep end. The selectors were also clear that having three captains in three formats — with Suryakumar the T20I captain — was not feasible.
“Firstly, it’s practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats – just in terms of planning. Obviously, at some stage, you have got to start looking at where the next World Cup is, it’s also a format which is played the least now, so you don’t get that many games to actually give the next guy… or if there is going to be another guy… that much time to prepare himself or plan. We are still two years away, it might look like a long time, but we don’t quite know how many one-day games we might play closer to the World Cup,” Agarkar said.
“Of course, the focus has been on the T20 World Cup, but slowly we will start planning for that World Cup to come, so it gives the next guy enough time to plan with whatever games that we have coming.”
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 this year. However, after a poor Test series against Australia, he stood down as captain for the final Test in Sydney. He retired from the format in May paving the way for Gill to be appointed skipper. Kohli also announced his Test retirement in May. In his maiden Test series as captain, Gill amassed 754 runs in five matches in England, averaging 75.40 with four centuries.
Asked if it would have been easier to remove Rohit as captain if India hadn’t won the ICC Champions Trophy under him, Agarkar said, “Even if he had not won the Champions Trophy, it would have been a difficult decision because of how good he has been for India. But you have to sometimes look at what is coming forward, where you stand as a team and eventually look at what is in the best interest of the team. Whether it’s now or maybe six months later. Those are the calls that I suppose we have to make.”
The ODIs in Australia are to be played in Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne between October 19 and 25 and will be followed by a five-match T20I series.
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