Follow UsIt’s the end of an era in Indian Cricket as on October 4 (Saturday), Rohit Sharma was officially replaced as the captain of the Indian ODI Team, with Shubman Gill taking over the reins. Rohit will still continue to play ODI cricket as a specialist batter, but with him retired in both Tests and T20Is, this decision to remove him as captain means that his days as an Indian captain are over.
The decision came as a shock to many, considering Rohit’s last tournament as ODI skipper saw team India win the 2025 Champions Trophy unbeaten, but former India chief selector Kris Srikkanth gave a different perspective. Srikkanth agreed that this move was ‘unfair’ on Rohit, but asserted that the team had to ‘move forward’ eventually.
"On one hand it's the right decision, because you have to move forward. You are grooming a captain. Shubman Gill is a fantastic ODI player so he can learn a lot of things from the likes of Rohit and Kohli and grow as a leader. This must have been the selectors' idea,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel.
"We don't know if the selectors told Rohit Sharma that he won't be the captain. But they've already sort of prepared him for this by taking Test captaincy away from him and making him retire [from Tests] by not picking him in the England series. It's definitely unfair on Rohit Sharma but, you also have to look forward, because you have to build a team for the 2027 ODI World Cup."
With chief selector Ajit Agarkar publicly stating that both Rohit and Virat Kohli are ‘non-committal’ about the 2027 ODI World Cup, Srikkanth feared that this captaincy decision might spell the end of Rohit’s World Cup dream.
"After missing out on winning the 2023 World Cup, Rohit would have envisioned retiring after winning the 2027 WC. But now that dream has been cut short. Rohit paavam [poor Rohit]. Bad luck,” Srikkanth said.
Gill’s first assignment as captain will be a three-match ODI series away in Australia, starting October 19.