Shubman Gill Set to Replace Rohit Sharma as ODI Captain; Pros and Cons Discussed

Shubman Gill likely to be named ODI captain replacing Rohit Sharma

Now the latest reports add that Shubman Gill is also set to be the Indian cricket team’s next One Day International (ODI) captain, although Rohit Sharma is yet to retire from the format. Reports add that Shubman will be leading the Indian team in their next ODI series.

Gill has just recently begun his captaincy stint, and giving him the ODI captaincy just 2 years before the 2027 World Cup might not be an ideal decision, or it could be a game-changer. Let's debate whether Shubman Gill is the right choice to replace Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain. Gill has already replaced Rohit in tests as the skipper. A change in ODI leadership might be around the corner.

Under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, the Indian cricket team has had a lot of success. Since taking over the leadership responsibilities from Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma has brought calm authority and tactical sharpness. Under his captaincy, Team India has been a dominant force in bilateral series.

Rohit's captaincy is quite different from that of Virat Kohli, who brought a lot of intensity and aggression. But Rohit Sharma is a cool-minded captain with tactical brilliance. His decision to back the youngster had helped him thrive as the captain of the Indian team.

Recently, Rohit Sharma’s captaincy has brought a lot of success on the international front. After the heartbreaking 2023 home World Cup final loss in Ahmedabad, Team India has since won the T20 World Cup 2024 and, most recently, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Rohit Sharma has led the Indian cricket team in 56 ODI matches in his career and has won 42 of them with 12 losses and a tie. He has a win percentage of 74.54 in ODI cricket.

Why is Shubman Gill the leading candidate?

The Indian cricket team has several top players who could take over as captain from Rohit Sharma, such as KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. So, why is Shubman Gill being considered for ODI captaincy instead?

Shubman Gill is a highly talented player who has had a great start so far. At the age of 25, Gill has already scored close to 2800 runs in 55 ODI matches since making his debut in 2019. He has come through the U19 World Cup batch of 2018, so the BCCI has closely tracked him.

He is a technically sound player, elegant to watch, and he is being thought of as the next face of the Indian cricket team, just like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He is being seen as the leader of the next generation, someone who will understand the next generation players fairly well and will help the youngsters in the team to settle in.

Shubman Gill displayed brilliance with his leadership skills in the IPL 2025, where he led the team to the IPL playoffs with his tactical brilliance, and his ability to inspire his teammates is being looked at as a key attribute.

Pros of Shubman Gill as India’s Next ODI captain 

Age and Longevity

Shubman Gill is still young at the age of 25 and has well over a decade-long career still to go. He offers a great prospect of leading the Indian team for the next decade. BCCI has also been in search of a long-term captain, and Shubman Gill fits the bill perfectly. A young captain also allows for the next generation to see Gill asthe  rightful leader of the team.

Growing tactical maturity

Shubman Gill hasn’t been a captain for a long time. So his sample size is still very small. However, he has shown brilliance in a very short time, as seen in the IPL, guiding the Gujarat Titans to the IPL playoffs in the IPL 2025 season. His field placement, bowling has been great in the IPL as well as in the ongoing England vs India Test series.

Cons of Shubman Gill as India’s next ODI captain

Inexperience captain

Picking Shubman Gill as the captain would mean leaning towards an inexperienced captain. Shubman Gill has captained only in the IPL and domestic cricket. Leading the Indian cricket team in the Test series vs England is his first time leading the senior Indian side. Lack of quality leadership experience in prior could hurt both the Indian team and the player himself.

Impact on his batting

While Shubman Gill has got off to a flying start with the bat as the Indian Test captain in the Test series vs England, there is no denying that the pitches have been greatly in favour of the batting. Hence, we still don't know whether Shubman Gill, long-term, would be able to balance the captaincy workload alongside his batting. We have seen on several occasions where a new captain’s performance dips because of the added responsibility.

It will be exciting to see how Shubman Gill would fare in a challenging condition and difficult match situation with both his batting and captaincy, especially in the ODI format, which needs attention to minute details.

Managing the senior pros

Despite Shubman Gill being a very popular figure in the Indian cricket team, it might still prove to be difficult to manage the senior pros. Rohit Sharma has still not retired from ODI cricket, and it will be exciting to see whether he plays in the next series. Then there are players like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah who also would want to be the Indian team captain.

Therefore, it will be interesting to see which direction Team India decides to take: maintain Rohit Sharma as captain until the 2027 Cricket World Cup and then make the transition, or make the change now and assemble a formidable squad with two years to go before the World Cup. Another option is for Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill to alternately lead the team in order to get Gill ready for the ODI captaincy.

BCCI in-talks for Sri Lanka series in August

The cricket fans’ wait to watch Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma play for Team India might be closer than it initially looked. With all the Test cricket and T20I matches lined up, Team India’s next scheduled ODI series is against Australia in October-November.

However, after the BCCI and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) recently decided to postpone the series that was scheduled in August, the BCCI is now reportedly in talks with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to organise a white ball series in mid-August that will involve T20I and ODI.

Team India is currently playing a five-Test series against England. After that, with the Bangladesh series postponed, Team India will now be in action next in the Asia Cup 2025, which will take place in mid-September, opening up a good month-long free window to play the series vs Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, after the Lanka Premier League (LPL) was recently postponed, the Sri Lanka cricket team also has about a month-long window before their series against Zimbabwe in the last week of August.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Sri Lanka Cricket have yet to formally confirm the status or reality of the negotiations. But with the Indian cricket team busy in England in their 5 match Test series vs the Three Lions, the BCCI has an ample amount of time to continue the discussion.

If made official, the fans won't have to wait until October-November to watch both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli play for Team India in ODI, given both batters are picked in the squad and not rested. This could also give us the answer to the question of whether Shubman Gill will be the next ODI captain or Rohit Sharma will keep the role.

Following that, Team India will play the Asia Cup 2025 in mid-September, which will be played in T20I format to help the teams prepare for the T20 World Cup 2026. 

Team India will then take on West Indies after the Asia Cup in a 2 match Test series. That will be followed by the white ball series against Australia, which consists of 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is. The Men in Blue will wrap up the year hosting South Africa for 2 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 5 T20Is in November-December.