Ahmedabad, Oct 4 India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar opined that it was ‘practically impossible’ to have three different captains across formats, which was the reason behind Shubman Gill succeeding Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain.
The Agarkar-led selection panel named India’s squads for the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Australia and handed over the ODI captaincy to Gill while also naming Rohit and Virat Kohli in the squad.
Before the squad announcement, the Men in Blue had three different captains for each format, with Rohit heading the ODI side, Gill leading the Test team and Suryakumar Yadav in charge of the T20I setup.
However, Gill will now lead the team in both ODIs and Tests after being named Rohit’s successor. Asked about the 26-year-old’s white-ball captaincy, Agarkar, addressing the media at the press conference, said:
“It’s practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats in terms of planning. You’ve got to start planning. You also play it the least. We are two years away. We don’t play as many games. It is a bit of a challenge with one-day cricket. The focus has been on the T20 World Cup. We will surely start planning for the ODI World Cup. Gives the next guy enough time.”
With Gill now looking after two formats and also being named Suryakumar’s deputy in T20Is, the Punjab-born is likely to feature in all the games across formats going forward. Speaking further on the possibility of Gill burning out, Agarkar added:
“Hopefully not. Still quite young. We saw what he did in England under immense pressure. Really positive signs there. We hope there’s no burnout. As team management, we try to manage it as best as possible. You’ve also got to give the guy enough time.
"He’s been the vice-captain in the ODI format for a while now. That’s how it works. What he’s shown in England was really positive signs, and we’re hopeful."
India’s tour of Australia will begin on October 19 with the three ODIs. the five-game T20I series will begin on October 29 and conclude on November 8.
India’s ODI 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), and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
India’s T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, and Washington Sundar.
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