In a massive development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sacked Rohit Sharma as the ODI skipper of the India National Cricket Team ahead of the upcoming Australia tour.
The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has decided to name the Test skipper Shubman Gill as the new ODI captain of the team, replacing Rohit Sharma at the helm.
Rohit Sharma’s captaincy era ends
India National Cricket Team are all set to tour Australia for a three-match ODI series and a five-match T20I series in October-November 2025. Perth Stadium will host the ODI series opener on October 19, and the next two matches are set to be played on October 23 and 25 in Adelaide and Sydney.
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Rohit Sharma, alongside Virat Kohli, has been named in the squad, but the former has been stripped of the captaincy despite leading India to two back-to-back glories in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
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Shubman Gill, the new poster boy of Indian cricket, will be leading the ODI team as they prepare for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027. He recently attended the selection meeting as well.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer is back in the leadership role, having been named the new ODI vice-captain following his success in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Other than that, Ravindra Jadeja has not been named in the ODI squad, Mohammed Shami also missed out on selection, while Jasprit Bumrah has been rested. Also, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant have been ruled out and replaced by Nitish Kumar Reddy and Dhruv Jurel.
India’s ODI squad for the Australia tour:
Squad: 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.
Ajit Agarkar opens up on difficult decision to sack Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma achieved so much success as the captain of India that he can be placed in the ‘GOAT’ category. In the ODI multi-nation tournaments, he captained India in 27 matches and won 24 of them. He led India to the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 and won the Asia Cup 2018, Asia Cup 2023, and ICC Champions Trophy 2025.the
Talking about the decision to remove him from leadership despite his immense success, Ajit Agarkar said that it was a very difficult decision for them. He made it clear that sidelining Rohit, even if he hadn’t won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, was tough because of his contributions to the team over the years.
“Even if he hadn’t won the Champions Trophy, it would have been a difficult decision because of how good he has been for India. But you have to sometimes look at what is coming forward,” Agarkar said while speaking to the media.
“Where you stand as a team and eventually look at what is in the best interest of the team. Whether it is now or maybe six months later. Those are the calls that I suppose you have to make,” Agarkar added.