Shubman Gill replaced Rohit Sharma as the new ODI captain of the Indian men’s cricket team on October 4. The 26-year-old right-handed batter from Punjab will make his ODI captaincy debut against Australia in the upcoming three-match series, which is set to start on October 19 in Perth. In his first official press conference after being named as India’s ODI captain, Gill said that it’s an honour for him to become India’s ODI captain.
“It was announced after the first Test against the West Indies (in Ahmedabad), but I got to know about it a bit earlier. It’s an honour to lead India,” Gill said when asked about his new role by the reporters in Delhi on Thursday.
According to Gill, he would like to imbibe the “calmness” that Rohit brought to the dressing
room when he takes charge of the ODI team
“The calmness of Rohit Bhai and the friendships that he created among the group, I want to imbibe that,” Gill said.
Gill is in the national capital these days to take part in the second India-West Indies Test, which is set to start on October 10 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Under Gill’s leadership, India defeated the West Indies team by an innings and 140 runs in the series opener played at Narendra Modi Stadium last week, and there will be expectations for another big show from the Indian players in the second red-ball match starting on Friday.
During the pre-match press conference, Gill was asked about the future of Rohit and Kohli, who now only play ODIs following their retirements from Tests and T20Is and in reply he said that both Rohit and Kohli have won so many matches for India and the team still need their skill and experience.
“The two have won so many games for India. Very few have so much skill and experience. We need them,” Gill said.
He also opened up about his relationship with India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir, who is being called the brain behind the ongoing transition in Indian cricket.
“Our relationship is good. We strike up conversations about how to make players secure. Also, we talk about preparing a pool of fast bowlers,” Gill said.
