Mumbai: In less than 48 hours, Shubman Gill will be leading the Men in Blue for the first time as India’s full-time ODI captain. His predecessor Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will also be in the playing XI in the three-match series against Australia Down Under.
More than Gill handling his former captains, most eyes will be focussed on the two veterans performing against the strong Australian side.
Both Rohit and Virat have retired from Tests and T20Is, hence the only format they now play in internationally is the 50-overs-a-side game.
Before IPL 2025, they last played international cricket in the ICC Champions Trophy in February-March, in the UAE.
Both Rohit and Virat are preparing seriously for the ODIs against Australia, and seem to be hungry. Whether they can overcome the rust and get among runs remains to be seen.
Many have questioned the justification of keeping the ageing stars in the ODI set-up when there are several contenders ready to step in. Also, the next ODI World Cup is two years away, so do they stand a chance of making the cut for the 2027 World Cup to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia? After all, Rohit will be past 40 and Virat close to 39 by that time.
Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the selection committee, clarified that Virat and Rohit are not on trial in the upcoming ODI series against Australia, saying that three matches won’t determine their chances for the 2027 World Cup.
“They are part of the squad for Australia… They have been incredible players for a long time. It’s not a forum to keep harping on individuals. You want to focus on the team and what the team wants to achieve. And in two years’ time, we don’t know what the situation is going to be. So, why just them two? It could be some other younger players,” Agarkar told NDTV.
Asked about the possibility of Kohli and Rohit making it to the 2027 World Cup, Agarkar offered a pragmatic answer.
“That’ll be a bit silly, isn’t it? When one averages over 50 (Kohli, 57.9) and one is close to 50 (Rohit, 48.8), you are not going to put them on trial for every game. 2027 is a long way away, they play only one format, are playing after the Champions Trophy final on the 9th of March. They are playing 19th of October… so once they start playing, then you assess as you go forward. They are not on trial. They have achieved all they had to achieve, not just in terms of trophies but runs. It’s not that if both of them don’t get runs this series, that’ll be the reason they won’t be there, or if they get three hundreds, that’ll be the reason they play 2027. It’s still a long way away. We’ll see how it all shapes up. We have some ideas, and as we go along, we’ll have a better idea of how the team is progressing,” Agarkar said.
He also made it clear that legacy players like the duo can’t become a burden for the team.
“Not at all. You have legacy cricketers because they have built it for themselves with their performances. There’s not one team in the world that won’t want experience. It’s always got to be a balance between some of our youth or newer players and the senior players to guide them. You’d rather have the experienced players playing well. When you have been around for a while, you take pride in your performances. Like I said, they have created that legacy for themselves, and you treat them with that respect. Maybe some of the conversations you have with those players don’t come out, but you treat them with nothing but respect. You want them around the team, every year so many players make debut for India, you want the senior guys to be around to guide them,” he said.
The first ODI between India and Australia will be played in Perth on Sunday, starting at 9 am IST. The second and third games are scheduled on October 23 (Adelaide) and October 25 (Sydney).
The ODIs will be followed by three T20Is, in which Suryakumar Yadav will lead the team.
