NEW DELHI, Oct 4: Ending the speculations over India’s One-Day International Cricket team captain and the future of stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday named Shubhman Gill as the new captain while retaining both the stars in the Indian ODI squad for the coming three-match series in Australia beginning in Perth on October 19.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar, in a press briefing in Ahmedabad, confirmed that the call to show faith in the Test leader was made with the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in mind and also because “it’s practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats.”
Gill’s deputy will be Shreyas Iyer as India is scheduled to play six more ODIs against the visiting South African and New Zealand sides in the next three months.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the ODI series against Australia while Yashasvi Jaiswal has made a comeback. Coming to the T20I series against the same opponents, Suryakumar Yadav has been named captain while Gill is the vice-captain. All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been named in the T20I squad with the injured Hardik Pandya missing out.
The decision to name Shubhman Gill as India’s new ODI captain means that Rohit will no longer be in any leadership role. According to media reports, the selection of Rohit as well as Virat will be done completely based on merit in the future. While questions do arise about what this decision means for Rohit’s future with respect to the ODI World Cup 2027, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar has not provided any concrete update on the topic.
Rohit, 38, was India’s Champions Trophy-winning skipper (March 2025), and also led India to the final of the 2023 World Cup at home. In a stellar stint, Rohit won 42 of the 56 ODIs in which he was at the helm, and averaged 59.42 with the bat in those contests. He has now been retained as a batter in the 50-over squad alongside Virat Kohli, who will soon be 37. The star duo have retired from Tests and T20Is.
“That’s the format they are playing at the moment and we have picked them,” said Agarkar. “As far as the 2027 World Cup is concerned, I don’t think we need to talk about it today.” Ravindra Jadeja has missed out though, with Axar Patel being considered the first-choice left-arm tweaker.
“Taking two left-arm spinners to Australia is not possible,” Agarkar explained. “He [Jadeja] is clearly in the scheme of things but there will be some competition for places. Of course, he was there in the Champions Trophy, but we took those extra spinners because of the conditions there.” “With Washi [Washington Sundar] and Kuldeep [Yadav] there as well, I don’t think we are going to need more than that in Australia,” the former India speedster added.
Also excluded from the successful Champions Trophy roster are Varun Chakaravarthy and pacer Mohammed Shami. Hardik Pandya, who suffered a quadriceps injury ahead of the recent Asia Cup final, has been replaced by fellow fast-bowling all-rounder Nitish Reddy while Dhruv Jurel has been included as the second wicket-keeper behind K.L. Rahul.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led squad for the five-match T20I in Australia, however, bears a settled look, with the only notable change from the bunch that won the Asia Cup being Nitish’s inclusion in place of Pandya. The T20 World Cup will be held in February-March 2026 at home and in Sri Lanka, and India, after the upcoming series Down Under, will be playing five T20Is against South Africa and five versus New Zealand in the lead up.
Squad
Indian ODI squad for Australia tour: Shubhman Gill (Capt.), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt.), Axar Patel, K.L Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
India’s T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Capt.), Abhishek Sharma, Shubhman Gill (vice-capt.), 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.
(Manas Dasgupta)