It was not the debut Shubman Gill would have hoped for as India's new ODI captain. Leading the team for the first time against Australia in Perth, Gill's men were outplayed in a rain-curtailed contest, slipping to a seven-wicket defeat.
The result not only handed Australia a 1-0 lead in the series but also pushed Gill into an unfortunate statistical bracket - one shared only by one of India's greatest modern-day players.
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Shubman Gill's first-match defeats across all formats
Gill's ODI captaincy debut ended in disappointment as India were bowled out for 136 in 26 overs before Australia chased down the revised 131-run target comfortably.
Last year, he debuted his T20I captaincy with a 13-run loss to Zimbabwe in Harare, followed by a five-wicket defeat to England in his first Test as skipper at Headingley earlier this year.
| Format | Opposition | Result | Margin | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T20I | Zimbabwe | Defeat | 13 runs | Harare | July 6, 2024 |
| Test | England | Defeat | 5 wickets | Leeds | June 20-24, 2025 |
| ODI | Australia | Defeat | 7 wickets | Perth | October 19, 2025 |
Virat Kohli's similar start as India captain
Before Gill, only Virat Kohli had experienced defeats in his first matches as captain in all three formats. Kohli's first ODI as skipper was in 2013 against Sri Lanka, where India lost by 161 runs.
His Test debut as captain ended in a 48-run defeat to Australia at Adelaide in 2014, and his first T20I as captain saw England beat India by seven wickets in Kanpur in 2017.
| Format | Opposition | Result | Margin | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODI | Sri Lanka | Defeat | 161 runs | Kingston | July 2, 2013 |
| Test | Australia | Defeat | 48 runs | Adelaide | Dec 9-13, 2014 |
| T20I | England | Defeat | 7 wickets | Kanpur | Jan 26, 2017 |
With this record, Gill became the ninth captain in world cricket to lose his first match in all three formats - joining names like Brendon McCullum and Mohammad Rizwan. Despite the unlucky start, Gill has plenty of time to turn things around and redefine his captaincy journey across formats.
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