Gill replaces Rohit as ODI captain; Kohli, Rohit in squad for Australia tour

AHEMDABAD, OCT 4 : In a significant transition move, the Indian selectors on Saturday removed Rohit Sharma from the ODI captaincy and, as expected, handed over the reins to young Shubman Gill, with an eye on the 2027 World Cup.

The decision also underlines Gill’s transition into an all-format leader.

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

Shreyas Iyer has been named vice-captain for the three-match ODI series. The matches 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 set-up after a string of consistent performances in T20 internationals.

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Rohit had indeed been communicated about the change in captaincy but remained non-committal when asked if both Rohit and Kohli would 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.

When asked how the now former skipper had taken the decision, the former pacer offered a terse reply: “That is something between the selection committee and Rohit.”

Agarkar also made it clear that with very few ODIs being played nowadays, it is impractical to have three different captains across formats as it hampers the planning process.

“Firstly, it’s practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats, just in terms of planning,” Agarkar said.

He added that the 2027 World Cup is a huge part of the committee’s long-term plan and Gill needs to be given time to settle into the role.

“Obviously, at some stage, you have 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.”

ODI squad for 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.

T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

-PTI