The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee on Saturday (October 4) took a tough call of removing Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain
Despite leading India to the Champions Trophy triumph earlier this year, the 38-year-old was not considered for the leadership role when the selectors sit together to pick the ODI squad for the upcoming Australia tour.
With the ODI World Cup scheduled in two years’ time, the baton was passed over to Shubman Gill, who was also named the Test skipper following Rohit's retirement in May 2025.
While Rohit Sharma continues to feature in the 15-member squad as a specialist batter, it’s unclear whether he is in the scheme of things for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa has backed the Indian selectors’ call to appoint Shubman Gill as the ODI captain, arguing that age is not on Rohit’s side.
Uthappa further stated that India would not want another situation like the tour of Australia, where Rohit was forced to drop himself from the Sydney Test due to poor form, despite being the captain of the side.
"He's gonna be, in all honesty, 41 when that World Cup comes around. Right? So, you gotta keep that in consideration as well. And for all intents and purposes, I think it's done with taking the decision when the stakes are low rather than when the stakes are high, you don't want another situation like what happened in Australia," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
"To happen to Rohit Sharma, he's too good a player for something to happen to him like that again. So, maybe to avoid all those stuffs. Maybe, I don't know... You don't want an uncomfortable situation like that, and if he keeps himself fit, then no questions there. You know Rohit and Virat will be a part of that side," he added.
According to Uthappa, Rohit’s form won't dip drastically but his reflexes might get impacted due to limited cricket. The veteran opener also retired from T20Is following the T20 World Cup triumph last year.
"I don't see form kind of dipping that sense, but it's just about reflexes and does that work, and how those things work because right now, they are not playing a lot of cricket as well. The only cricket they'll find themselves playing is perhaps the IPL and One Day cricket, and perhaps maybe some domestic One Day matches if they do come by," Uthappa remarked.
Shreyas Iyer has been named Gill’s deputy for the Australia series, scheduled between October 19 and 25 in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney.
India's ODI squad for Australia tour: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
