Why Rohit Sharma replaced by Shubman Gill as ODI captain? Ajit Agarkar reveals real reason

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday surprised every Indian cricket fan when it finally unveiled ODI and T20 squads for the upcoming Australia tour. What surprised everyone was that the ODI captaincy has been snatched from Rohit Sharma and given to the Test skipper, Shubman Gill. Not only cricket fans, but several former cricketers were also shocked to know about Rohit Sharma, including Harbhajan Singh, who expressed shock at the BCCI's move.

Harbhajan Singh expresses shock about BCCI's decision

Expressing his views on the BCCI's decision to promote Shubman Gill and remove Rohit Sharma from captaincy, Harbhajan Singh said, ''First of all, congratulations to Shubman Gill. Obviously, he has been leading the team well in Test cricket, and now he’s been given another opportunity in ODIs as well. It's going to be a new challenge for him. Rohit has been replaced, but he will always be someone who holds a very good record in white-ball cricket. To be honest, this news is a little bit shocking to me. If at all, he was going to Australia, he should have been the captain. He won the Champions Trophy, and other tournaments too.''

''He's been one of the pillars of Indian cricket, so he should have been given one last captaincy run in Australia. I know the 2027 World Cup is still very far away. Gill could have waited a little and taken over in another 6-8 months. So yeah, I’m happy for Shubman but disappointed for Rohit to be removed,'' he added.

Dinesh Karthik pays tribute to Rohit

Paying tribute to the outgoing captain, Karthik said, ''Rohit Sharma! Thank you so much. You were a phenomenal captain. Tactically astute, but most importantly, very friendly, and got along with everyone and made them feel so comfortable. But for me, the legacy that you have left as a captain is in those big moments, those big matches, you taught this current team what it takes to win. At times, we used to take a backward step but you said 'No, we need to press forward'. Put more pressure on the opponent, take more risks. And you didn't leave it to anyone else. You started it with the bat when in the big matches, you said 'I’m going to go hard'. That required skill. And you got it done consistently.''

India squad for Australia tour (ODIs)

Shubman Gill (C), Shreyas Iyer (VC), KL Rahul (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel,  Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

India squad for Australia tour (T20Is)

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh, and Washington Sundar