Gill set to bear the fruits of a prosperous Ro-Ko era despite the unique set of challenges ahead of him as ODI captain.
Gill inherits the wealth of India’s Rohit-Kohli era.
Which squad in ODI history is the best?
Not because there are too many conceivable “correct” answers, but rather because it’s a challenging question. It is challenging because, at the end of the day, there are only two equally fascinating teams: Ricky Ponting’s Australia and Clive Lloyd’s West Indies. Both teams have won back-to-back World Cup titles and have won up to three times as many One-Day Internationals as they have lost.
The win-loss ratios of 3.555 and 3.235 for Lloyd and Ponting, respectively, rank first and third among all captains who have captained ODI teams at least 20 times.
Third-best and best? Yes, considering that Rohit Sharma’s India, with 42 victories and 12 loses in 56 games, is positioned exactly between them at 3.500.
Despite having a 15-1 record in two international competitions, Rohit’s India lost that one match on November 19, 2023, and they didn’t control world cricket for nearly as long as the other two teams did. However, Rohit’s India were so good that they can be ranked together with the two greatest ODI teams.
Since Rohit’s ODI team is now Shubman Gill’s, we’ll need to get used to using the simple past tense while discussing them. He is currently the face of Indian cricket, serving as captain in two international forms and vice-captain in the third. He is 26 years old.
Almost, that is. Because Virat Kohli’s visage has dominated television advertisements for India’s forthcoming ODI series in Australia for the past week or so, rather than Gill’s or even Rohit’s. Kohli and the shirt number 18 he wears with Smriti Mandhana have even been mentioned in advertisements for the women’s World Cup.
In some respects, we are still in the Virat Kohli era even though it has been over four years since he captained India in any capacity and he has retired from two of them. In other respects, we are still living in Rohit Sharma’s time. These are also cricketing ways, as Rohit won India the final in a Rohit-only manner while Kohli won India’s matches in unmistakably Kohli ways the last time India played ODIs, finishing among the top run scorers in the Champions Trophy.
Even though Ajit Agarkar and his selection panel have stated that they are ready for a future without both Rohit and Kohli, it is not surprising that they are still in India’s ODI squad. Even because they don’t play the other two formats, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be included in the one where they are both undeniably the greatest of all time and where they haven’t shown any signs of slowing down.
Although India has explosive openers like Abhishek Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal who may replace Rohit, there is currently little proof that they can perform as well in 50-over matches against two new balls as they can in Twenty20 matches against one. India have candidates for the No. 3 role, but can any of them accumulate risk-free runs in pressure situations while still somehow ticking along at a-run-a-ball like Kohli has continued to do into his mid-30s?
Who plays ODIs anymore, though, so it’s a difficult time for both. India has played just 11 games since the beginning of 2024, which is tied with Ireland as the fewest of any team. Currently, India has no games scheduled between January 18 and July 14, when they play the first of three ODIs in England. However, they will play nine games during the 2025–26 season, including three at Australia in October and three each against South Africa and New Zealand at home.
Additionally, India may have to balance two conflicting demands because of how seldom they would play ODIs in the run-up to that World Cup. In addition to making the most of what Rohit and Kohli still have to offer, they also want to give other hitters a chance to play in case someone needs to fill either or both of their oversized shoes come World Cup time. How do they simultaneously do both of these tasks?
As a result, Gill may also be in a difficult period. Being one of the few remaining international players who play all three formats is already a challenge for him. Additionally, he will have two former captains hitting alongside him until he works things out.
Even though all of it may seem difficult, this might be the ideal moment for him to take charge of the ODI team. Rohit gives Gill a team that is so strong that they have created a gap between Ponting’s Australia and Lloyd’s West Indies. He gives the team the Champions Trophy without even losing a game, which was their final act in ODIs.
Most importantly, he transfers a team with formidable experience and quality. Even without Rohit and Kohli, Gill has a long list of well-known players, including Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj, as well as a seemingly never-ending stream of young players with lofty aspirations vying for his services.
This is the main point, and it has been the case with the Indian ODI team for the past three years or more: they have concerns, of course, but only after observing the ones that other teams are facing.