Former South Africa batter Daryl Cullinan feels that Shubman Gill should succeed Rohit Sharma and become India's captain in one-day cricket. This comes amid there being a lot of uncertainty regarding Rohit's future with the Indian team. There is no guarantee as to if the 38-year-old will remain as a part of the Indian team until the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Cullinan believes that Gill should be handed the captaincy in ODIs regardless of whether Rohit is playing or not. Notably, if the 25-year-old does take over the role, then this will be the second format where he will become the national team's captain. Gill was recently named India's captain in red-ball cricket and led the side in the five-match Test series against England.
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“Yes, Gill for captaincy, irrespective of whether Rohit is playing," Cullinan was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Cullinan also shared his views on the future of both Rohit and Virat Kohli and remarked that both of them still have the quality to feature for India in international cricket. However, he added that both of them will need to feature regularly in matches and will also have to perform well with the bat in order to remain a part of the set-up until the World Cup in 2027.
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“Well, I think from an ability and experience point of view, they (Rohit and Kohli) could play, I don’t think there’s any doubt in that, but they’d have to be on the ground of international cricket," Cullinan stated.
“If I were the coach or convener of selectors, because no matter how good you are, thinking that you can just play a few games or select a few games, not put in the hours and then step in and think you’re going to perform, no, that doesn’t work that way. I’m not saying they need to be on the circuit all the time, but they need to have played a serious amount of cricket, especially going into the World Cup," he added.
Rohit and Virat likely to feature in Australia ODIs
Meanwhile, Rohit and Virat are expected to be in action in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia which is set to commence from October 19. This will be the duo's first international assignment since the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and their first competitive assignment since the IPL. Both of the stalwarts will be looking to make a banging return to the one-day format and there wouldn't be a better way to do it than performing well with the bat against the Baggy Greens.