Rohit Sharma loses ODI captaincy, Shubman to lead team in Australia

The Indian selectors on Saturday removed Rohit Sharma from ODI captaincy and handed over the reins to young Shubman Gill, keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind.

Rohit is the only skipper apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led India to three ICC white ball finals, winning T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy titles. He had a runners-up finish at the ODI World Cup.

As an ODI skipper, he won 42 of the 56 ODIs that he captained with a winning percentage of 76.

The selection panel's move also underlines Shubman's transition as an all-format leader.

Rohit, though features in the 15-member squad for the upcoming Australia tour along with other stalwart Virat Kohli as the selection panel chose not to fully sacrifice the experience.

Shreyas Iyer has been named vice-captain for the three-match series.

The ODIs are scheduled to be played in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne between October 19 and 25 and will be followed by a five-match T20 series.

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for the ODI leg of the tour to manage his workload, while promising left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal has been recalled to the 50-over setup after a string of consistent performances in T20 internationals.

Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Rohit had indeed been communicated about the change in captaincy but his answer was open-ended when asked whether both Rohit and Kohli would play the 2027 ODI World Cup.

"Yes. I mean that is the format they are playing at the moment and we (have) picked them. As far as the 2027 (ODI) World Cup is concerned, I don't think we need to talk about it today, obviously with the captaincy change that's generally the thought," said Agarkar.

Asked how the now former skipper had taken the decision, the former pacer said, “That is a conversation between me and Rohit or selectors and Rohit. But like I said, of course, it has been communicated to him."

Agarkar also made it clear that with very few ODIs being played nowadays, it was impossible to look at three different captains as it hampered the general planning of the squad.

"Firstly, it's practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats, just in terms of planning," Agarkar said.

The 2027 World Cup is a huge part of this committee's plan and Shubman needs to be given time to settle down into the role.

ODI squad for Australia tour: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK) and Yashasvi Jaiswal.