There has been a big change in the Indian cricket team. The selection committee led by chief selector Ajit Agarkar has announced the ODI and T20 teams for the tour of Australia, in which young batsman Shubman Gill has been made the new captain of the ODI team. Apart from this, former captain Rohit Sharma will now play in the ODI team only as a batsman. However, no clarification has been made on whether Rohit has stepped down from the captaincy or has been removed.
During the team announcement, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar’s statement indicated that Rohit may have been removed from the captaincy. In the press conference, Ajit Agarkar had said, ‘It is practically impossible to have three different captains for all three formats. ODI cricket is the least played format at present. Our focus is on the upcoming T20 World Cup. We want to give Gill time to adjust.’
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been included in the ODI team. However, regarding their future plans, Ajit Agarkar said, “Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not expressed any commitment regarding the 2027 World Cup.”
Regarding the fitness of both the players, Ajit Agarkar said, “Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have completed all the necessary formalities to join the team. We always send the names of the selected players to the Centre of Excellence (COE) and confirm their fitness.”
The decision to make Shubman Gill the ODI captain marks a transition towards a younger generation at the helm of Indian cricket, while the selectors’ main focus will be on the T20 format.
Team India ODI squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
