Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar said he is not surprised by the appointment of Shubman Gill as India’s ODI captain, calling it a logical move by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). On Saturday, Gill replaced Rohit Sharma at the helm, months after the veteran batter led India to the Champions Trophy title. The 25-year-old, who is already captain of the Test team, will take charge of the ODI team for the first time during the upcoming tour of Australia, starting October 19.
Gavaskar feels that the decision was primarily focused on India’s preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. The former India captain also claimed that the BCCI could soon appoint Gill as captain for all three formats.
“Not surprised because you’ve got to look forward to 2027, the next 50-over World Cup. At the moment, the T20I captaincy is in the hands of Suryakumar Yadav, who just won us the Asia Cup. Shubman was the vice-captain there. So, clearly the message is that he will soon be an all-format captain,” Gavaskar told Sports Today.
BCCI’s Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar, during a press conference on Saturday, said that it is ‘practically impossible’ to have three different captains across formats. Gavaskar echoed his sentiments and emphasized that a team should ideally have one captain across formats, but only if the player is a guaranteed member of the playing XI.
“Whoever is going to lead, has got to be an absolute certainty. He has got to be an automatic pick in the XI. In that case, you can have him as captain. It is not easy to have three different captains. It is not easy for the other players in the team who might be playing all three formats. If a player is good enough to captain in one format, he should be the captain in all three formats,” he added.