When it’s as big as removing the captain who has won the Champions Trophy in his last assignment, the decision sure cannot be sudden. It wasn’t. The Indian selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir and the other decision makers of the BCCI, thought long and hard before sacking Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain and handing over the reins to Shubman Gill.
Shubman Gill revealed that he knew about the big development. He was informed of his appointment to the role shortly before the first Test against the West Indies, even though the official announcement came immediately after the Test match, which India won in two and a half days. The 25-year-old replaced Rohit Sharma as the leader in the 50-over format and will begin his captaincy tenure with the upcoming ODI series against Australia later this month.
“Yes, it was announced in the middle of a Test match but I got to know a little before that,” Gill said ahead of the second Test in New Delhi. “It obviously is a big responsibility and an even bigger honour. So, very excited to lead my country in that format.”
Gill, who has also been leading India in Test cricket, called the past few months a whirlwind but insisted that his focus is now fully on the future.
“The last few months have been very exciting for me. But I’m really looking forward to what the future has. I want to stay as present as possible and don’t really want to look back on what I’ve been able to achieve or what we as a team have been able to achieve. Just want to look forward and win everything that we have in the upcoming months.”
The young skipper also opened up about the mental and physical toll of playing all three formats, acknowledging the pressures and expectations he places on himself.
“Yes, I think more than physically. Most of the time, I feel fine, but sometimes there is mental fatigue. When you are constantly playing, there is obviously a certain expectation that I have for myself. To be able to keep up with my own expectations sometimes becomes a challenge,” Gill admitted.
“But I think that’s the challenge — to be able to play all the formats for India. I want to play all the formats and succeed in all the formats for the country and win ICC titles. So if I want to do that, then this is the challenge that I have to go through.”
Gill’s rise to ODI captaincy is being seen as part of a broader transition under the guidance of head coach Gautam Gambhir, with the team eyeing long-term planning and squad consistency. Speaking about his working relationship with the team, Gill said he shares an open and practical communication.
“Our relation is really good. It’s very simple actually. We always try to have conversations around how we can make the players feel more secure and what kind of combinations we can play.”
He added that the focus is also on building a strong and consistent core of players, particularly in the fast-bowling department.
“We sort of want to look at an 18 or 15-member squad where we are picking constantly from that bunch. And one of the key things that we discuss is how we can build our fast bowlers. We have a pool of good fast bowlers and we want to be able to keep recruiting them so that they get enough opportunities to come whenever we tour South Africa, Australia or New Zealand.”
