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Shubman Gill becomes India’s ODI captain for the Australia tour, with Shreyas Iyer as deputy, signaling a shift ahead of the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.
Shubman Gill replaces Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain
Young Indian batter Shubman Gill took over India’s ODI captaincy on Saturday as the BCCI announced the white ball squads for the upcoming Australia tour. While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were also named for the 3-match series Down Under later this month, the baton was passed to Gill with Shreyas Iyer as his deputy.
The surprising move signals a gradual shift in leadership, keeping the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind. Reacting to his crowing as India’s next ODI skipper, Gill said he looks forward to ‘doing great’ and ‘winning the 2027 World Cup’ in South Africa.
“It’s the biggest honour to be able to lead your country in the ODIs. To be able to lead a side that has done so well it’s immense pride for me. I hope I’ll be able to do great,” Gill said in the video posted by the BCCI.
“We have about 20 ODIs before we play the World Cup in South Africa, which is obviously the ultimate goal. Everything that we play and all the players that we play, they are going to try their best to have a great season before we get to the World Cup. Hopefully, we will be ready before we go to South Africa and win the title,” he added.
It took six Test match defeats against New Zealand and Australia to get into action, and with the sacking of Rohit Sharma from India’s ODI captaincy, the duo has laid down a marker.
As reported by PTI, there are three aspects of the decision taken jointly by Agarkar and Gambhir with the blessings of someone very powerful in the Indian cricket ecosystem.
First, they are on the same page that both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli aren’t exactly in their scheme of things for the 2027 World Cup. Second, the Gambhir-Agarkar duo does not believe that the Rohit-Kohli duo can sustain form (in case of Rohit’s fitness too) by only playing one international format sporadically, along with two months of IPL.
Last but not least, a young all-format captain also gives the Indian cricket board a chance to create a solid role model going into the next decade.
(With PTI Inputs)
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had …Read More
A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had … Read More
October 04, 2025, 19:51 IST
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