India's red-ball captain, Shubman Gill, has now been appointed as India's ODI skipper, starting with the white-ball tour of Australia later this month. He takes over the reigns from Rohit Sharma who will continue as a batter in the team.
Add The Sporting News as a preferred news source
Team India's Australia tour in 2025 includes 3 One-day Internationals and 5 T20Is. The series will commence on October 19th, and it will also see the much-awaited return of Rohit and Virat Kohli, who haven't featured in the blue jersey since the Champions Trophy win earlier this year.
Why did Shubman Gill replace Rohit Sharma as India's ODI captain?
At 26, Gill took over India's Test side and had a terrific series in England both as a captain and a batter. Taking over from Rohit Sharma, Gill led India in a tough England tour, which ended on a draw (2-all).
The batter amassed 754 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75, including four hundred and a double-ton (269 runs), which was also the highest individual score by an Indian captain. He also impressed one and all with his leadership skills.
More: India announces ODI squad for Australia: Gill to lead as Rohit, Kohli return with Bumrah rested
"Firstly, it is practically impossible to have 3 different captains for three formats. We have to start looking at the 2027 ODI WC. It is a format that is played least now, so we don't get that many games to give the next guy to plan or prepare. We are still 2 years away, but it is a bit of a challenge with the ODIs. Our focus is on the T20 WC, but slowly, we are starting to plan for 2027," India's Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said at the press conference..
Rohit led India to two ICC titles in the last two years, including a T20 World Cup and an ICC Champions Trophy title. He retired from Test cricket earlier in May, following which the Test leadership role was appointed to Gill.
Rohit, Kohli return for the Australia tour, Jadeja dropped
While Rohit's stint as the Indian captain comes to an end, his role as the batter will continue in the Indian ODI squad along with Virat Kohli.
Rohit and Kohli last featured for India in the finals of the Champions Trophy, and with no ODIs being played in between. While they did feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL), they were missing from international cricket action for six months.
Both the Indian greats also announced their retirements from the red-ball format earlier this year.
Meanwhile, India's red-ball vice-captain Ravindra Jadeja has been dropped from the side, which has come as a shock to the fans. Jadeja has been one of India's most consistent performers across formats and was also part of the squad for the Champions Trophy.
The all-rounder recently grabbed the 'player of the match' award for his all-round brilliance in the first Test against the West Indies.
India's squad for the Australia ODIs
- Shubman Gill (c)
- Rohit Sharma
- Virat Kohli
- Shreyas Iyer (vc)
- KL Rahul (wk)
- Axar Patel
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Washington Sundar
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Harshit Rana
- Mohammad Siraj
- Arshdeep Singh
- Prasidh Krishna
- Dhruv Jurel (wk)
- Yashashvi Jaiswal
RELATED LINKS:
- Who will win the Women's Cricket World Cup 2025? Odds, winners list, favourites to win, schedule, and results
- ICC Women's ODI World Cup 2025: Schedule, fixtures, match times, latest results, and points table
- How to bet online on cricket in India and the most trusted site
- All the latest cricket news
- All betting tips and predictions