Support grows for Shubman Gill as ODI leader despite Rohit Sharma's presence: 'He is ready to take over'

India’s Test captain Shubman Gill is getting a lot of praise for his leadership after a successful series in England. Many former cricketers and experts now feel that he is ready to become India’s next ODI captain even though Rohit Sharma is still part of the team and hasn’t retired.

Former India player Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel that Gill has shown maturity and skill as a leader and is ready to become the ODI captain as well. Kaif said that there is uncertainty regarding Rohit’s availability in 50-over format after he stepped down from T20I and Test cricket.

“He will get the ODI captaincy as well because we don’t know how long Rohit Sharma will continue as captain. Gill is ready to take over. He scores in white-ball. He has performed well as captain here in Tests and led from the front. When you go with a young team, you have to do both things – score with the bat and do well as captain. A brilliant tour for him overall,” Kaif said.

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Kaif also pointed out that Gill was under pressure when he became Test captain for the England tour, especially because his own Test form was not great. However, Gill proved his critics wrong by finishing as the top run-scorer in the series and scoring a whopping four centuries across five Tests.

“Shubman Gill, as captain, created opportunities with both hands in this series. When he became captain, there were many questions as to why he was made captain, looking at his Test record. A young captain reached England under a lot of pressure with a young team. He answered with his bat and it came to a point where he was compared to breaking Sir Don Bradman’s record. Such a strong comeback with the bat,” he added.

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Gavaskar backs Gill to become ODI captain

Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar also believes this could be the right time to give Gill the ODI captaincy. He said this after the fifth Test between India and England, which Gill’s side won by a narrow margin of 6 runs to level the series 2-2.

“Rohit and Kohli are available for ODIs. They haven’t been selected as of yet. Those things will be up to the selection committee. When the ODI series against Australia or the West Indies gets underway, it will be the perfect time to go for the Gill if the selectors want,” Gavaskar said.

Rohit Sharma has already retired from T20 and Test formats, but has not confirmed anything about his ODI future. Virat Kohli has also done the same. The two modern-day legends of Indian cricket are expected to play for India in the next ODI World Cup. However, the decision of captaincy is upto the selectors and will be taken in due course.