'Moving on from Rohit was wrong...': Kaif gives bold statement after India lose NZ ODI series under Gill's captaincy

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif feels that the team management were wrong to take the ODI captaincy from Rohit Sharma and hand it to Shubman Gill. Notably, the latter is yet to win an ODI series as the side's captain ever since taking over during the Australia tour in October, 2025. The team first lost the ODI series against the Baggy Greens before ending up on the losing side against New Zealand as well. Though they did win the three-match assignment against South Africa, Gill was out of action due to a neck injury and KL Rahul was the one who led the team to victory.

Kaif raised questions over the management's decision to move on from Rohit despite his stellar record as the captain in the format. He also highlighted how the team rarely lost a bilateral series under Rohit's leadership, adding that their performance in ICC events was also solid.

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"Under Rohit, many times we would be 2-0 and he would then try new players in the last game even if we lost, just to see them. We never lost the series at least. He never took bilaterals so seriously. He made a solid team in ICC events. It would have been smart to support him. Moving on from him was the wrong move. They wanted the credit of making the new team, making Gill captain. Behind all that, this New Zealand defeated us at home and went. Something that even a big captain like Kane Williamson could not do, Bracewell did that," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

Kaif concerned about Gill

Kaif also expressed concern on Gill, who has been handed the responsibility of leading Team India in both Tests and ODIs. He believes that the 26-year-old has been overburdened due to leadership duties and his form has taken a major hit due to this.

"Shubman Gill is not in the T20 team. It is not his fault. He is a good player. But there was a lot of load put on him. He was not ready to bear all this. He has a certain capacity. There was a lot of weight on him. That is the reason he has been dropped now. He was just running from one place to another. This is equal to reducing his career. He is under pressure now, and it is affecting his batting in ODIs as well. He scored a fifty, but there was not the same fluency, and he always used to convert before," he added.

India to face New Zealand in T20Is as well

Meanwhile, India will now be shifting their focus to T20Is as they will be taking on New Zealand in a five-match series that will begin from January 21. This will be the Men in Blue's final form of preparation heading into the 2026 T20 World Cup so it will undoubtedly be quite an important assignment.