3 reasons why India must make Shubman Gill ODI captain post ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Shubman Gill excelled as captain during the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. Tactically, he still has a long way to go, understandably so since his leadership journey has only begun. However, as a batter, he was pure bliss when he got it right in the Tests in England.

In 10 innings, the right-handed batter amassed 754 runs at an excellent average of 75.40, with the aid of four hundreds. He crossed the fifty mark four times in the Test series and converted all of them into three-figure scores. In the second Test in Birmingham, Gill batted supremely, registering scores of 269 & 161.

In the wake of his amazing performance in England during the five-match Test series, we look at three reasons why Team India must handover the one-day captaincy as well to Gill.

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#1 Uncertainty around Rohit Sharma's future with regard to 2027 ODI World Cup

Rohit Sharma has done a fabulous job as Team India captain in the one-day format. He took the team to the brink of glory in the 2023 ODI World Cup before they faltered at the final step against Australia. Not only as skipper, he excelled with the bat as well, leading the team from the front.

The Hitman had expressed his wish to play the 2027 World Cup in an interview a few weeks back. If he maintains his form and fitness, Rohit could remain in contention. However, considering the uncertainty over his future, it would be a smart move to hand the ODI captaincy to someone else, keeping the next World Cup in mind. Gill seems the right choice for now.

Since Rohit has retired from the other two formats, he would only be seen in one-dayers now. The continuity factor must thus be considered while picking a captain for the one-day team. Apart from Gill, a few other senior players like Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul feature in red-ball and white-ball formats. Given the current scenario, India need a captain who is a regular feature in international cricket.

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#2 Shubman Gill proved in England that he enjoys the responsibility of leadership

Captaincy can do two things to a player - it can either burden him and bog him down or make him blossom into an even better cricketer. With Gill, it has been the latter, at least so far. The sample size may be too small, but the batter's sensational performance in England gave enough hints that here is someone who enjoys the responsibility of leading the team.

When Gill was named captain for the Test tour of England, there were plenty of question marks over the decision. The apprehensions were reasonable. The right-handed batter had a poor record as batter in overseas Tests heading into England. He also had an extremely disappointing tour of Australia, where his technical flaws were exposed, with some experts even terming him a flat-track bully.

Matches	Runs	Average	HS	SR	100s	50s
55	2,775	59.04	208	99.56	8	15

(Shubman Gill’s ODI batting record)

Instead of sulking, though, Gill worked on the technical and mental aspect of his game. The responsibility of captaincy gave him that added incentive to make a mark with the willow. At the start of the series, Gill pronounced that he wanted to be the best batter across both teams in the series. He then went on to walk the talk, giving clear signs that Gill the leader is here to stay.

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#3 The time just seems near perfect for a change

While it's an old saying that change is the only constant, the timing of the change is also significant. In case of the Indian ODI team, the time seems just near perfect to promote Gill as leader of the pack. The next World Cup in the format begins in October 2027, so there is ample time to build a squad for the mega event.

The right-handed batter will turn 26 next month and is likely to be at the peak of his powers for the next few years. He has just come off a superb series in England, so his confidence would also be sky-high. Add to it the fact that Gill has an exceptional record in ODIs, averaging over 59. All said and done, it is tough to put forward a strong argument against him replacing Rohit as India's one-day captain.