Former South African cricketer Daryll Cullinan threw his weight behind Shubman Gill to replace Rohit Sharma as India’s next ODI captain. His opinion comes in the backdrop of uncertainty over the Hitman’s future in the 50-over format, the only one that he is currently active in. Cullinan, who had called Rohit overweight and a flat track bully last year, backed Sharma to continue just as a player while he hands over captaincy to Gill.
Cullinan wants Rohit Sharma out as India’s ODI captain
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Cullinan stressed on the need for Rohit and Virat Kohli to get ample game time before heading into the World Cup. He said that while there was no question on their ability to play, it was important for the duo to put in the hard work, not pick and choose games. The ex-South African cricketer stated that India should go ahead with Gill as the ODI captain, irrespective of whether Rohit was playing or not. Gill is currently India’s Test captain and the vice-captain of the T20I side.
“They need to be playing quality cricket for the next two years! Far more cricket than less cricket. Yes, Gill for captaincy, irrespective of whether Rohit is playing,” Cullinan claimed.
Both Rohit and Kohli were last seen in action for India during the Champions Trophy earlier this year. They then featured in IPL 2025 following which the duo announced their abrupt retirements from Tests just before IND vs ENG series. While reports had earlier claimed that Rohit and Virat could perhaps be asked to feature in Vijay Hazare Trophy in order to stay in contention for spots in the ODI side, Cullinan has toed a similar line.
“So it’s a bit of a catch-22, I’m not saying they need to be on the circuit all the time, but they need to have played a serious amount of cricket, especially going into the World Cup, so they’re in the right physical, mental frame of mind, the grind of international cricket, being fit, then I would say yes, but anything less than that I’d say no, India move on, because that certainly doesn’t work, and that’s in my view,” said Cullinan.
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