Not Shubman Gill, IPL-winning captain to succeed Rohit Sharma ahead of 2027 World Cup: Reports

Team India batter Shreyas Iyer has emerged as the frontrunner to take over the ODI captaincy from Rohit Sharma during the road to the 2027 World Cup. Earlier reports hinted towards Shubman Gill being an all-format captain in the long run, but such an approach has been deemed impractical by the team management due to workload concerns.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, Shubman Gill is viewed as the successor to Suryakumar Yadav when it comes to the T20I captaincy role. Although he was the vice-captain of the ODI side during the 2025 Champions Trophy, his leadership duties will be confined to a maximum of two formats in the long haul.

The report further suggests that the management view long-term potential in the pairing of Gill and Iyer as skippers across the formats, and a decision regarding the same is set to be taken after the Asia Cup 2025 concludes.

A major factor also lies in how the final phase of Rohit Sharma's career pans out. The Hitman has expressed his interest in featuring in the 2027 ODI World Cup, but maintaining fitness and form while playing only one format at his age might prove to be tricky. There is also the management's desire to kickstart an ODI transition imminently to prepare the vast talent pool in time for the tournament in South Africa.

Shreyas Iyer, who is now a certified member of the ODI squad in the middle-order, has excellent leadership credentials. He led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2024, and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the finals in 2025. As far as 50-over cricket is concerned, he led Mumbai in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The selectors had snubbed the right-handed batter during the squad selection for India's tour of England as well as the Asia Cup 2025. Despite his struggles to break into the playing XI of those formats, he is among India's best performers in ODI cricket for a considerable while now.

Rohit Sharma-led side's next ODI assignment is against Australia away from home

As mentioned above, Iyer's nomination as ODI captain is contingent on Rohit Sharma's plans. As of now, there is no clear indication whether The Hitman is in the management's plans or the fact that the player could retire from international cricket altogether in the near future.

A recent report did suggest that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are contemplating to end their careers following the culmination of the upcoming tour of Australia, scheduled to begin on October 19 in Perth.