Shubman Gill called his appointment as India’s ODI captain the “biggest honour,” expressing pride in carrying forward the legacy of Rohit Sharma — who will now play under his leadership in the upcoming three-match series against Australia.
With the 2027 World Cup in mind, the Indian selectors made a big decision on Saturday by removing Rohit from his position as ODI captain and giving the reins to young Test captain Gill.
“It’s the biggest honour to be able to lead your country in the one-day and to be able to lead a side, you know that has done so well, it’s immense pride for me, and I hope I’ll be able to do great,” Gill said in his first reactions after being named captain on bcci.tv.
Rohit and Virat Kohli, who have retired from Test and T20I formats, are unlikely to be included in India’s plans for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, marking a generational shift in the selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar.
The decision was made shortly after Gill’s first home success as captain, a commanding innings-and-140-run triumph over the West Indies that gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
For Gill, Ahmedabad holds special significance, as it was here that he first captained in the IPL, leading the Gujarat Titans.
“It’s difficult to put in words. This state is very special for me. From captaining my IPL team, then getting to know that I will be Test captain, I was here and then my first Test at home, leading the side in Ahmedabad, this venue has always been very special for me,” he said.
Gill has prepared his roadmap and has set his sights firmly on the 2027 World Cup.
“I think we have about 20 ODIs before we play the World Cup and obviously the ultimate goal is the World Cup in South Africa, so everything that we play, and all the players that we play they are going to try their best, and we’re going to try our best to be able to have a great season before we get to the World Cup.
“Hopefully, we will be fully ready when we go to South Africa and win that World Cup,” he added.
At the 2023 ODI World Cup, India went on a 10-match winning run at home under Rohit’s captaincy before losing badly to Australia in the final. The Men in Blue have won the Champions Trophy earlier this year after a winning streak of five games, and they have only lost once in 12 ODIs since that heartbreak—to South Africa.
Meanwhile, Gill’s captaincy career has gotten off to an incredible start. A new-look India without Rohit, Kohli, and R Ashwin drew 2-2 in his first Test series as captain, with Gill scoring more than 700 runs with the bat.
The right-hander achieved the highest-ever total in an India-England series with four hundreds and 754 runs over five Test matches. He smashed Sunil Gavaskar’s long-standing record of 732 runs as captain against the West Indies in 1978-79 and eclipsed Graham Gooch’s 752 set in 1990.
Additionally, Gill eclipsed Virat Kohli’s 692 runs from the 2014–15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to become the first Asian batter to hit more than 700 runs in a series in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia).
With his run spree, he came very close to surpassing Sir Donald Bradman’s record of 810 runs for a captain in a single series.
