Young batter Shubman Gill on Saturday was appointed India’s ODI captain ahead of the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, starting October 19. Gill replaced Rohit Sharma at the helm, signalling a gradual shift in leadership ahead of next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, was named vice-captain of the side, having recently decided to take a break from red-ball cricket. On the decision to name Gill as captain, Ajit Agarkar, the BCCI’s chief selector, stressed on long-term preparation for the upcoming World Cup.
“Rohit Sharma has been communicated about change of captaincy. We don’t play too many ODIs and we needed to give the next guy enough time. How Rohit has taken the decision to change captain is between him and selection committee,” Agarkar said during a press conference on Saturday.
India won the Champions Trophy earlier this year, in what was Rohit’s final assignment as ODI captain. Agarkar admitted it was a “tough call” and a “difficult decision.”
“Even if he had not won, it would have been a difficult decision. But sometimes you have to look forward, where you stand, interest of the team etc. Tough call,” he added.
Before the BCCI announcement, India had three different captains for each format, with Rohit heading the ODI side, Gill leading the Test team, and Suryakumar Yadav in charge of the T20I setup.
However, with Gill now looking after two formats and serving as Suryakumar’s deputy in T20Is, it is fair to say that the 25-year-old is likely to take charge of the team in all three formats going forward.
India’s ODI squad: 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.
(With PTI Inputs)