Shubman Gill Reacts to Becoming India’s New ODI Captain, Reflecting on Rohit Sharma’s ‘Ultimate Dream’

Shubman Gill has been appointed as India’s new ODI captain, taking over the role from Rohit Sharma.

Shubman Gill Takes the Baton as India’s ODI Captain

Shubman Gill

In May 2019, ahead of the ODI World Cup in London, Rohit Sharma spoke of his “ultimate dream” — lifting the ICC trophy. “That’s the fairytale every youngster grows up dreaming about,” he told Cricbuzz. Yet, despite stellar performances, Rohit endured two near-misses: six years ago, India fell in the semifinals despite his record-breaking batting, and four years later, on home soil, his unbeaten side lost to Australia in the final at Ahmedabad.

In 2027, with the 50-over World Cup in South Africa approaching, Rohit will no longer captain India’s ODI side, and the BCCI has not confirmed his potential selection. The mantle now passes to Shubman Gill, entrusted by Ajit Agarkar and the selection committee with the responsibility of fulfilling Rohit’s “ultimate dream.”

On Saturday, as the squad for the three-match ODI series in Australia was announced, Shubman Gill was officially named India’s ODI captain. Speaking on BCCI.tv for the first time since the announcement, Shubman Gill expressed immense pride and outlined his vision: “It is the biggest honour to lead your country in one-day cricket, and to lead a side that has done well…it is immense pride for me, and I hope I will be able to do great. I think we have about 20 ODIs before we play the World Cup, and that is the ultimate goal. So everything that we play and all the players that we play, they will try to play their best, and hopefully we will be ready before we go to South Africa and win the World Cup.”

Rohit Sharma’s ODI Legacy and the Rationale for Leadership Change

Rohit Sharma has been one of India’s most successful ODI captains, leading the team to 42 wins in 56 matches, achieving an impressive 75% winning percentage. His tenure includes India’s Champions Trophy victory earlier this year in the UAE, marking a second consecutive ICC trophy under his leadership following the T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados in June 2024.

Despite these achievements, Ajit Agarkar explained that transitioning leadership was inevitable when considering the bigger picture. “Whether it is now or maybe six months later, those are the calls that we have put in place to make. It’s tough with one-day cricket at this point, because if you are going to make that call, you want to do it reasonably early and give the other guy enough chance to build confidence leading in another format. That was the idea,” he said.

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