Shubman Gill’s leadership debut as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to face Australia

The first ODI against Australia will feature Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s return to the Indian team, while Shubman Gill makes his debut as full-time skipper. This series is crucial for both veterans and the young leader’s development

Perth: Even amid the emotional return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to the Indian fold, Shubman Gill’s maiden outing as full-time ODI skipper provides an equally compelling narrative ahead of the first one-dayer against Australia here on Sunday.

Kohli and Rohit are returning to national colours after playing in the Champions Trophy in March, and the dynamics of Indian cricket have changed irrevocably in these seven months.

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The cricketing ecosystem has learned to survive the prolonged absence of Kohli and Rohit — at least in two formats — during this interim period.

So, what do these two veteran batters now have to offer the side?

Before delving into that question, let’s be clear about it — Kohli and Rohit will be counted among the greatest one-day batters of all time, by any yardstick.

They have also been training hard for this series. Rohit seems to have shed a few kilos and moulded himself into a chiselled figure, and Kohli was sweating it out in London, his new base, with a private trainer.

But the challenge for these two giants is to shake off the accumulated rust post the IPL, their last competitive outing.

It might just be a blessing for them that their return coincides with a series against Australia, a team that has had a cathartic influence during the course of their long careers.

In that context, the three-match ODI series can be considered as a barometer of their individual drive and willingness to travel farther in their careers as one-format players.

But unlike Kohli, Rohit needs to come to terms with his new role as just a senior player.

Rohit’s previous T20I and ODI outings ended with celebrations after guiding the team to ICC trophies, and he was leading the side even in his last Test appearance in Melbourne.

If Kohli can produce those brilliantly calibrated knocks and Rohit his incandescent shot-making up the order, then these two stalwarts can hope to hang on for a long time.

It will be fascinating to watch an old rivalry come to life again as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood try to keep the Ro-Ko duo quiet once more.

The celebrated cricketers will clearly know that they no longer have the immunity of leadership or the luxury of time, as the current selectors and team management have no deep remorse in taking harsh calls with the future in mind, particularly the 2027 ODI World Cup.

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar hinted as much.

“Look, they (Rohit and Kohli) are part of the squad at the moment for Australia. They are not on trial. Once they start playing, we’ll assess.

“But we have some ideas, and we’ll probably have a better idea of where the team is progressing,” said Agarkar during the ‘NDTV World Summit.’

Gill’s Burden

The future is what Gill is expected to shape. But he will always have the looming figures of Kohli and Rohit behind him.

The 26-year-old has already shown that he is capable of standing up to the legacy of Kohli as a batter during the away series against England.

Now, Gill will have to match the standard set by Rohit as white-ball formats skipper, justly reflected in India’s 75 percent win ratio under him, the highest in the country’s ODI history.

If he likes it or not, Gill will be judged against the achievements of Rohit in the limited-overs formats, and the Mitchell Marsh-led Australia offers him a daunting first test, despite the absence of premier pacer Pat Cummins.

If he can ace this test, it will do wonders for his confidence as a leader, which will, in turn, mirror his already fast-developing batting.

Team Combination

It’s unlikely that the management will break the highly successful opening combination of Rohit and Gill, keeping Yashasvi Jaiswal as a backup option.

It means Kohli will come in at No. 3, followed by Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, who will double up as the wicketkeeper.

Nitish Kumar Reddy is likely to receive his maiden ODI cap in the all-rounder’s role, as injured Hardik Pandya is not part of the side, and Harshit Rana will vie with Prasidh Krishna for the support seamer’s role behind Mohammad Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.

Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav could handle the spin department.

On the other hand, the Aussies will hope that the likes of Cooper Connolly, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, etc., can give ample support to Marsh and India’s eternal nemesis Travis Head.

Teams (from):

India: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Short, Mitchell Starc.

Match starts at 9am IST.