Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif expressed disappointment over the selectors’ decision to replace Rohit Sharma with Shubman Gill as the ODI captain. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar made the announcement in a press conference on Saturday while unveiling the squad for the IND vs AUS series that is scheduled to begin from October 19. Kaif opined that it was wrong to replace Rohit as captain, especially after he had won the T20 World Cup in 2024 and the Champions Trophy in 2025.
‘Rohit Sharma ne Hindustan ko 16 saal diye’
In a video on his Instagram handle, Kaif claimed that the selectors had failed to give one more year to Rohit as captain despite the star devoting 16 years to Indian cricket. he pointed out that India had won 15 out of 16 matches at ICC events. Kaif claimed that Sharma was not among the players who stretched their time, adding that there was no need to fast-track Gill as ODI captain at the moment.
“In India, there are examples of people stretching their time. Rohit Sharma did not do that. He made players, taught them, backed them, and mentored them to perform under pressure. But we could not give him one year. For the 2027 World Cup, he will not lead the team; he has been removed. We couldn’t give him one additional year. Shubman Gill will take over. Gill is young, fresh, and could be a good captain, but there is no necessity to fast-track everything,” Kaif said.
Agarkar had justified the decision to replace Rohit with Gill as captain, stating that it was practically impossible to have three different captains for the formats. He claimed that the decision had been made keeping in mind the 2027 ODI World Cup.
“It’s practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats, just in terms of planning. Obviously, at some stage, you’ve got to start looking at where the next World Cup is. It’s also a format that is played the least now. So you don’t get that many games to actually give the next guy that much time to prepare himself or plan,” Agarkar stated.
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