Published: October 7, 2025 10:11 AM IST 
New Delhi: Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector for the BCCI, announced a leadership change last Saturday as part of the 2027 ODI World Cup preparations, indicating Indian cricket’s entry into a new era. After Rohit Sharma’s successful tenure as ODI captain, the board appointed Shubman Gill to succeed him. The three-match series in Australia, which starts on October 19, will be Gill’s first assignment as ODI captain.
Agarkar revealed that Rohit had been informed of the decision but refrained from sharing the details of their conversation, a report in The Telegraph stated, “Rohit had been informed about the decision some time ago and not on Saturday.”
During the press conference, Agarkar was asked about Rohit’s reaction to the decision, but the former India’s pacer chose to remain silent and added, “That is a conversation between me and Rohit, but like I said, of course, it has been communicated to him.”
Agarkar acknowledged that replacing Rohit as ODI skipper was a tough decision given his impressive captaincy record in white-ball cricket. He led India to 42 wins in 56 ODIs suffering just one loss in the format across two ICC tournaments, the 2023 World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad.
Despite, leading India to a Champions Trophy victory earlier this year, Agarkar felt the decision to remove Rohit from captaincy was inevitable. He described it as a forward-looking move, aimed at giving Rohit’s successor sufficient time to establish himself as a leader in the format.
“Even if he had not won the Champions Cup, it would have been a difficult decision. Because of how good he has been for India. But you have got to sometimes look at what’s coming forward, where you stand as a team and eventually look at what’s in the best interest of the team. Whether it’s now or maybe six months later. Those are the calls that I suppose we have to put in place to make. Like I said, it’s tough with one-day cricket at this point. Because if you are going to make that call, you want to try to make it reasonably early and give the other person enough time to gain confidence in leading another format. So, that was the idea. But it’s always tough. Someone who has been very successful, you have to make that decision,” he said.
The selectors are also uncertain about Rohit’s future in the format. According to report few believe he can, “perform at his best after more than seven months of hiatus from competitive cricket.” He was last featured during IPL earlier this year. Despite being part of the team for the tour of Australia, he is not yet included in the scheme for the 2027 World Cup. The 38-year-old, the forthcoming ODI series in Australia is essentially a “perform or perish” situation.
The report indicated that Gill’s performance as Test captain in England earlier this summer gave the selectors confidence to announce him as the new ODI leader. Additionally, India’s show in the recent Asia Cup confirmed that the team has a “better” option ready to fill in Rohit’s shoes at the top of the batting order in the 50-over format.
“Abhishek has been amazing in the six-over Powerplay in T20s. Imagine if he gets 10 and survives through that phase! He can better Rohit and give the innings a head start,” said someone in the know of things.
Abhishek Sharma was awarded the Player of the Tournament in the Asia Cup, as he scored 314 runs in 7 innings. His performance also earned him a call-up for India A’s one-day series against Australia A at home. Although there was numerous speculation that this would mark his maiden ODI selection for the Australia tour, the selectors did not include him in the squad announced on Saturday.
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