ODI squad: selectors remove Rohit from captaincy; Gill to take charge
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Ahmedabad: Indian selectors handed over ODI captaincy to youngster Shubman Gill, removing veteran Rohit Sharma from the post, on Saturday. The significant move suggests selectors' validation of Gill as an all-format leader, according to a PTI report.
However, Rohit and Kohli are in the 15-member squad for the upcoming Australia Tour as the selection panel chose not to fully sacrifice the experience. Shreyas Iyer has been named vice-captain for the three-match series.
The ODIs are scheduled to be played in Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne between October 19 and 25 and will be followed by a five-match T20 series.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the ODI leg of the tour to manage his workload, while promising left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal has been recalled to the 50-over setup after a string of consistent performances in T20 internationals.
Agarkar also made it clear that with very few ODIs being played nowadays, it is impossible to look at three different captains, as it hampers the general planning of the squad.
"Firstly, it's practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats, just in terms of planning," Agarkar said.
The 2027 World Cup is a huge part of this committee's plan, and Gill needs to be given time to settle into the role.
"Obviously, at some stage, you have got to start looking at where the next World Cup is, it's also a format which is played the least now, so you don't get that many games to actually give the next guy or if there is going to be another guy that much time to prepare himself or plan."
ODI squad for Australia tour: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.