Skipper Gill must make most of Rohit and Virat’s presence

The 26-year-old gets the format but leading a side is different from just playing as a batter

- Somshuvra Laha

There hasn't been a younger India captain since, well, MS Dhoni. But cricket's two oldest formats hardly overlap these days, and the next ODI World Cup is two years away.

So Shubman Gill shouldn't exactly feel the heat as he prepares to lead India in Australia for a three-match ODI series, beginning Sunday. And while the format may be dying, there is no denying the legacy that still needs careful shepherding—a nearly 70% win record in the last 36 months, 2023 World Cup finalists and Champions Trophy winners this March.

Ideally, India would have liked to pick up from where they had left in Dubai. But the captaincy needed a reboot, largely because at 38, Rohit Sharma can't be a sure-shot pick for 2027.

Given his fitness levels, Virat Kohli’s future may be subject to less conjecture but he too isn’t guaranteed a spot, certainly not when the selectors are bracing for a future without either of them.

Despite this slight issue, India are a thriving one-day unit, packing in the experience of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj, with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy ready to grab opportunities.