Rohit Sharma loses ODI captaincy, Shubman Gill takes over for 2027 World Cup

India's selectors have removed Rohit Sharma from the ODI captaincy, appointing Shubman Gill as the new leader with an eye on the 2027 World Cup. Rohit remains in the squad, and Shreyas Iyer is named vice-captain for the Australia tour

Ahmedabad: In a significant transition move, the Indian selectors on Saturday removed Rohit Sharma from the ODI captaincy and handed over the reins to young Shubman Gill, keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind.

Rohit is the only skipper apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has led India to three ICC white-ball finals, winning the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy titles. He also had a runners-up finish at the ODI World Cup.

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As an ODI skipper, he won 42 out of the 56 ODIs he captained, with a winning percentage of 76.

The selection panel’s move also marks Gill’s transition as an all-format leader.

Rohit, however, features in the 15-member squad for the upcoming Australia tour along with other stalwart Virat Kohli, as the selection panel chose not to fully sacrifice experience.

Shreyas Iyer has been named vice-captain for the three-match series.

The ODIs are scheduled to be played in Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne between October 19 and 25, and will be followed by a five-match T20 series.

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the ODI leg of the tour to manage his workload, while promising left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal has been recalled to the 50-over setup after a string of consistent performances in T20 internationals.

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 him and Kohli will play in 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 gave 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 being played nowadays, it is impossible to have 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 into the role.

“Obviously, at some stage, you’ve 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.”

The ODI World Cup is still two years away, but in terms of volume of games available, it is around 30, and simply playing one format would remain a challenge, feels Agarkar.

“We are still two years away; it might look like a long time, but we don’t quite know how many one-day games we might play, and yet closer to the World Cup we might end up playing a little bit more than what we have.”

“But the last ODI we played was on 8th or 9th of March in the Champions Trophy, and the next one we play is on October 19th, so it is a bit of a challenge with one-day cricket at the moment.”

“Of course, the focus has been on the T20 World Cup, but slowly we will start planning for that World Cup to come, so it gives the next guy enough time to plan with whatever games we have coming up.”

Agarkar also said that he has “no knowledge” if the Australia tour would be Rohit and Kohli’s last in India colours.

Would it have been easier to remove Rohit from the captaincy had he not won the Champions Trophy?

“Even if he had not won the Champions Trophy, it would have been a difficult decision because of how good he has been for India. But you have got to sometimes look at what is coming forward, where you stand as a team, and eventually look at what is in the best interest of the team,” Agarkar said.

He said that changing Rohit, keeping the larger picture in mind, was inevitable.

“Whether it is now or maybe six months later, those are the calls we have to make. Like I said, it’s tough with one-day cricket at this point, because if you are going to make that call, you want to try and make it reasonably early and give the other guy enough chance to gain confidence in leading another format, so that was the idea.”

ODI squad for the 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.