Newly appointed ODI captain Shubman Gill has opened up about the invaluable role of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in shaping the Indian team’s mindset and success. As Gill prepares to lead India in the upcoming white-ball series against Australia, he acknowledged that the experience and leadership of the two stalwarts continue to guide the younger players.
Gill, who has already impressed as Test captain, now faces the challenge of leading India’s ODI side with the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup in sight. Both Rohit and Kohli are set to return to international cricket for the first time since India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 win earlier this year.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇,” 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑰𝑪𝑪.
Gill Reflects on Learning from Rohit Sharma’s Leadership
Taking over the reins from Rohit Sharma, the 24-year-old opener credited his predecessor for teaching him composure and team bonding. Gill revealed that several traits of Rohit’s leadership have influenced his own captaincy approach.
“𝑺𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒊 – 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 – 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝑰 𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅,” 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.
Kohli and Rohit were both exceptional during India’s 2023 World Cup campaign, with Kohli emerging as the tournament’s top run-scorer with 765 runs and Rohit following closely with 597 runs at a strike rate of 125.95.
A New Chapter Begins for Shubman Gill
Gill, who also captained India in the recent Test series against England, said he is aware of the weight of responsibility that comes with leading India in the ODIs. Under his leadership, India will begin their Australian tour with the first ODI in Perth on October 19.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝑫𝑰𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅,” 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
The young skipper emphasized the importance of staying grounded and focusing on what’s next rather than past achievements.
“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Also Read: Arshdeep Singh Says He Trusts ‘Jassi Bhai’ Just Like Mohammed Siraj Does
