Shubman seen as obvious successor to Rohit as skipper

After Shubman Gill was reinstated as India's T20I vice-captain for Asia Cup, having missed the previous three bilateral series while he was focused on ODI and Tests, it’s all but certain that the 25-year-old is being seen as the future all-format captain.

- Rasesh Mandani

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said there was no plan to appoint Shreyas Iyer as ODI captain after Rohit Sharma, and refuted media reports to that effect. He told HT: “That's news to me. There have been no such discussions.”

Other officials privy to happenings in the selection committee meeting also denied that the panel had anyone other than Gill as India’s next ODI captain. “He averages 59 in ODIs and is already the vice-captain. There is no way someone who has recently been appointed Test captain, found some success and has age on his side should not take over leadership in ODIs, when the time comes,” another BCCI official said.

Whether the time has already come for Rohit, 38, to hand over reins is yet to be formally discussed. Leading BCCI officials, selectors and India coach Gautam Gambhir are all expected to be involved in discussions before any decision is made.