'There is still time to...': Ex-India star wants BCCI to sack Shubman Gill and bring Rohit Sharma back as ODI captain

Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary feels that BCCI should reinstate Rohit Sharma as the ODI captain after the team has recorded poor results under Shubman Gill's leadership. This comes after the Men in Blue's 1-2 defeat to New Zealand in the recently concluded ODI series. This was the first time in history that the Kiwis won a one-day assignment in India and the loss in the third match saw the hosts lose their first-ever ODI at Indore.

Tiwary raises questions over Rohit's removal

Tiwary questioned why the BCCI decided to remove Rohit as captain in the first place, adding that the team was headed in the right direction under the latter. He suggested that the cricket board should correct their mistake by reinstating Rohit as the ODI skipper with the 2027 World Cup being on the horizon.

“Yes, absolutely. That’s what I’m suggesting because there’s still time to course correct. It’s about the World Cup. It’s not just about a bilateral series or a random tournament we are going to play,” Tiwary told InsideSport.

“What was the need to remove Rohit Sharma from the captaincy? I’m pretty sure that if Rohit were leading even today in the ODIs, it would have been a different result (New Zealand series) altogether. Because when he won the Champions Trophy, I think the team was going forward in the right direction," he added.

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Tiwary further explained why Rohit is a better captain that Gill. He feels that Team India has a bigger chance to win the ODI World Cup next year with Rohit as their leader. The 38-year-old has a lot of experience when it comes to the leadership role and led the team to the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy title during his reign.

“Rohit is not a little better than Shubman, but a lot better, currently. That’s why he’s such a successful captain. You can win it (the World Cup) with Shubman’s captaincy, but I’m suggesting comparing the captaincy of both. If Rohit becomes the captain, what is the percentage chance of winning? And if Shubman leads, what is the percentage chance of winning? I think everyone will say that if Rohit is the captain, then there is an 85 to 90 per cent chance of winning the World Cup,” Tiwary further said.

Gill's record as ODI captain so far

Gill has had a tough start to his ODI captaincy tenure. Under his leadership, the Men in Blue first got defeated in the series against Australia in October before losing a home assignment against New Zealand. Though they did win the ODI series against South Africa in December, Gill had been out of action during that time due to injury and KL Rahul was captaining the team in his place.