Last year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) changed its no split captaincy policy. From 2017, Virat Kohli was India’s all-format captain. Rohit Sharma took over after him. It was only after he retired from T20Is after the 2024 T20 World Cup that Team India had to shift to two captains.
Suryakumar Yadav was named the captain in the shortest format, while Rohit continued in the other two. That was until May. Currently, India has three different permanent captains, with Shubman Gill set to become the Test captain. This is a first. Ever since the third format came into existence.
Split captaincy not suited for Team India
According to former India selector Devang Gandhi, Gill should be India’s all-format captain. He thinks BCCI should be thinking about the long haul. What he means is deciding whether Suryakumar should be India’s T20I captain after the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Like Kohli and Rohit, who were groomed under MS Dhoni, Gill has been groomed under Kohli and Rohit to take over India’s captaincy. Gill has been one of the best ODI batters since his debut, averaging 59.04. It seems he’s found himself in Test cricket, and his performance in T20I or the IPL has been up to the mark.
“Gill has built an aura similar to what Virat had in 2017. Virat was groomed under MS Dhoni. Gill is also at his peak, like Virat was. He, too, has reacted to captaincy as well as Virat did. Ajit Agarkar has shown great foresight by appointing Gill as Test captain. There’s no reason why Gill shouldn’t be in a leadership role in T20. The messaging has to be clear about who takes over after Surya,” Devang told The Times of India.
India has also found success under all-format captains. In fact, all of the ICC trophies have come under them since the start of the 2000s. Devang thinks it’s the way to go for India. And Gill seems to be in his prime. He’s got what it takes. Pressure doesn’t get to him. Something he displayed recently on the 5-match Test tour of England.
“Unlike other countries, split captaincy doesn’t work in India in the long run because you crave stability in the thought process. When you have a prolific all-format player leading in one format, it becomes difficult to not hand him the same responsibility in the other format. Gill has ticked all the boxes as a batter. And he has led in IPL,” he added.
Editor's Pick
Cricket
Will Gambhir try Rishabh Pant or Nitish Reddy in IND vs SA 3rd ODI with series on the line?
Top Stories
