The baton has been passed. From Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the reins of Indian cricket have been handed to Shubman Gill. The 26-year-old had become India’s Test captain in May and will claim his first-ever series win on October 14 in Delhi against the West Indies.
Just a couple of days later, Gill will officially become India’s ODI captain as well. Keeping the 2027 Cricket World Cup in mind, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to replace Rohit with Gill. The upcoming India vs Australia ODI series will commence the next chapter of Indian cricket.
Gill won’t have any issues handling Rohit-Kohli
The senior pros are at the fag end of their international careers. They have retired from two formats, and 50-over cricket is all that’s left for them. Managing them won’t be easy. Gill has grown up idolising the two and now he’ll have to be the man in charge.
Current Gujarat Titans (GT) batting coach Parthiv Patel thinks that Rohit and Kohli won’t cause any issues for Gill. Both have experience of playing under and then leading a senior player. With Kohli, it was MS Dhoni. As for Rohit, he had Kohli, who was one of India’s most successful captains.
“I don’t think that it will be a problem because of the kind of characters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are. You look at Virat; he became captain when MS Dhoni was still playing. He knows what role a senior plays in grooming a new captain,” Parthiv told PTI.
The former India wicketkeeper reckons that Gill won’t need to waste his energy on managing him, and instead, they’ll actually be the ones who’ll help him. They are mature cricketers. Neither leads an Indian Premier League (IPL) either, so they know what it’s like being away from captaincy.
“The same thing was there when Rohit became the captain. Yes, Virat wasn’t his senior but nevertheless a former skipper. Obviously, they have gone through that phase and understand the decision, which is about the betterment of Indian cricket; both of them always come across as mature. I don’t think Shubman needs to put in his energies behind managing those senior players,” he added.
