Rohit Sharma robbed! Why Shubman Gill's appointment as ODI captain is a big mistake

Why Gill becoming captain is a wrong move [Source: AFP Photo]

The Indian selectors revealed the 15-member squad for the upcoming ODI series against Australia, and they made a surprising decision by dropping Rohit Sharma from the captaincy post and appointing Shubman Gill as his successor. Rohit was expected to lead the Men in Blue in Australia, but Gill was made the new skipper out of nowhere.

After becoming the Test captain and the T20I vice-captain, Gill got another feather to his cap as he will now lead the 50-overs team, starting from the tour Down Under. This was a baffling decision as Rohit had only lost a solitary match in the last three white-ball tournaments, and had helped India win the Champions Trophy as well. In this piece, we analyse why it was the wrong move to suddenly give captaincy to Gill.

1) Too soon for leadership role in ODIs

In the space of a few months, Gill has now become the Test captain, the T20I vice-captain, and the ODI skipper as well. Perhaps the selectors are rushing things a bit too quickly with him. While he performed exceedingly well in the Test series against England, his captaincy decisions were questioned, and it was clear that he is still raw when it comes to making key decisions as captain.

As a tactical person, Gill lacks the cutting-edge, but perhaps the selectors have seen something which a normal person hasn’t.

2) What wrong has Rohit done?

As a batter and a captain, Rohit was outstanding for India, and the results tell the entire story. He took India to the 2023 World Cup finals, won the Champions Trophy in 2025, and led from the front as he had a terrific captaincy and batting record under him.

(Rohit's ODI captaincy stats)

• 42 wins in 56 matches with a win percentage of 75% define Rohit’s ODI captaincy tenure. He was outstanding as a leader and the record speaks for itself.

Moreover, it wasn’t only his captaincy, but his batting performances also improved under his leadership, and once again, the numbers reflect it.

(Rohit ODI stats since 2022)

• Since his permanent appointment as ODI captain, Rohit has amassed 1963 runs, but most importantly, he changed his game and played an ultra-aggressive mode with a strike rate of 116.85. Hence, there was no need to change what was yielding Team India results.

3) India had a better option than Gill

As mentioned in the first headline, this is too soon to hand him the ODI captaincy, especially when India has a better and a ready-made option in Shreyas Iyer. Surprisingly, Iyer was made the ODI vice-captain, when in reality, he should have been the one leading in ODIs, if India had made their mind to change the leadership.

He is the current India A captain, leading from the front in Australia, and also has exceptional white-ball leadership credentials, as witnessed in the IPL. So, when a tailor-made option was ready, India decided to take a U-turn and appointed Gill as the captain.

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