Ever since Team India's ODI squad for the tour to Australia was announced, everyone’s been talking about Rohit Sharma losing the ODI captaincy. But amid all this noise, aren’t we forgetting that a 26-year-old has earned the captaincy too? Why isn’t anyone talking about that?
MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma — the last three Indian captains — each left behind a vibrant legacy. Now, it’s Shubman Gill’s turn to carry that torch forward.
And this isn’t some small task. Dhoni was the ICC trophy king. Virat built a Test team that could win not just at home but abroad too. Rohit raised the bar in ODIs. Gill now inherits a crown — not of roses, but of thorns.
Comparisons will be made, every eye will be on him, and the pressure? It’ll be unimaginable. But if India performs well under him, the same people who doubt Gill today will be the first to dance in celebration tomorrow.
Remember, there were doubters even when he was handed the Test captaincy — yet, with a young side in England, India still managed to draw the series.
At the end of the day, there will always be a hundred opinions. What matters is that Gill tunes out the outside noise and focuses on his batting and captaincy. Because the 2027 World Cup will be his biggest test — and those two years will fly by before anyone even realises it.
Ajit Agarkar on Rohit and Kohli
Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Rohit has indeed been communicated about the change in captaincy, but kept it open-ended when asked if both he and Kohli will play the 2027 ODI World Cup.
"Yes. I mean, that is the format they are playing at the moment, and we (have) picked them. As far as the 2027 (ODI) 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," said Agarkar.
Asked how the now former skipper had taken the decision, the former pacer came up with a terse reply: "I mean that is a conversation between me and Rohit or us (selectors) and Rohit. But like I said, of course, it has been communicated to him."
Agarkar also made it clear that with very few ODIs are being played nowadays, it is impossible to look at three different captains, as it hampers the general planning of the squad.
"Firstly, it's practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats, just in terms of planning," Agarkar said.
The 2027 World Cup is a huge part of this committee's plan, and Gill needs to be given time to settle down into the role.
"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."
India's ODI squad for Australia tour:
Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
