Rohit Sharma, who guided India to consecutive ICC titles including this year’s Champions Trophy, has been succeeded by Shubman Gill as the new ODI captain.
Sourav Ganguly Clarifies Rohit Sharma’s ODI Captaincy Change
Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly dismissed claims that Rohit Sharma was “sacked” as India’s ODI captain, noting that similar transitions happen to every major captain toward the end of their careers. Ganguly recalled that both he and Rahul Dravid faced comparable situations in their playing days.
Rohit, who led India to back-to-back ICC titles, including this year’s Champions Trophy, was succeeded by Shubman Gill, whose first assignment will be the three-ODI tour of Australia starting October 19.
Speaking to India Today, Sourav Ganguly emphasized that Rohit’s replacement was likely a mutual decision following discussions with the selectors, rather than a dismissal. “I’m sure Rohit must have been spoken to. I’m not sure if it’s a sacking. I’m sure it’s a mutual discussion. Rohit has been an outstanding leader — he’s won the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy. Performance is not the issue with Rohit Sharma. In 2027, Rohit will be 40. That’s a big number in sport. It happened to me, it happened to Dravid… It happens to everyone. Even Shubman Gill will face the same at 40. Everyone in sport has to finish someday,” he explained.
Sourav Ganguly Backs Shubman Gill as India’s New ODI Captain
The newly appointed CAB president, Sourav Ganguly, supported the selectors’ decision to name Shubman Gill as India’s next ODI skipper, particularly after Gill’s impressive performance during his maiden Test captaincy stint on the England tour.
Earlier, chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained that the move was a forward-looking decision aimed at giving Gill adequate preparation time before the World Cup. “Obviously, at some stage, you have to start looking at where the next World Cup is. It’s also a format which is played the least now. So, you don’t get that many games to actually give the next guy or if there is going to be another guy that much time to prepare himself a plan,” Agarkar said.
He added, “The World Cup is still two years away. That might look like a long time, but we don’t quite know how many One-Day games we might play closer to the World Cup. We might end up playing a little bit more than what we have. The last ODI we played was in March during the Champions Trophy and the next one we play is on October 19. So, it is a bit of a challenge with One-day cricket at the moment. That’s the plan. It gives the next guy enough time to plan with whatever games that we have.”
