Shubman Gill replaced Rohit Sharma to become India’s ODI captain as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the upcoming white-ball series against Australia. India will play Australia in a three-match ODI series, and in a massive decision, the selectors decided to hand over the captaincy to Gill with Shreyas Iyer serving as vice-captain. It meant that Rohit will have no leadership role despite winning the Champions Trophy 2025 title in his last match as captain. While the decision split opinions on social media, there were two questions that were most prominent – why was the decision taken by the BCCI selectors and more importantly, why now?
Call it perfect timing or just pure luck, the announcement of Gill’s appointment came less than an hour after India registered a huge win over West Indies in the first Test under his leadership. Since taking over the Test captaincy, he has impressed everyone with his leadership, and the fight shown by the side during the series against England further solidified his position as a cricketer who led by example.
With Rohit playing only one format after retiring from both T20Is and Tests, the selectors were reportedly looking for a long-term solution to the captaincy conundrum. It was clear from BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar‘s statements in the press conference as he said that it is ‘practically impossible’ to have three captains for three formats-a formula that India tried to work with in the past year.
With Suryakumar Yadav more or less settling in his role as the T20I captain, the obvious move was to give Gill time to take the reins of the team in ODIs besides his duties in Test cricket.
“Practically impossible to have three captains for three formats. And it is the least played format currently. Focus is on T20 World Cup. Plan is to give Gill time to adjust,” Agarkar explained.
According to a report by Times Of India, the selectors are also looking at the team composition keeping the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind. As a result, it is highly possible that both Rohit as well as Virat Kohli‘s selection in ODIs will be completely based on merit, and provided that Rohit does not play the other two formats, Gill’s appointment also provides BCCI the flexibility to tinker with the squad as they please.
“At the moment, there are no major doubts over Rohit and Virat Kohli’s place in the ODI team. However, the selectors want a stable leadership going ahead. As it is, the number of ODIs have come down significantly. By natural progression, Gill should take charge of the ODI team,” a BCCI source told TOI.