AUS vs IND 2025: Why was Rohit Sharma removed as India’s ODI captain? Ajit Agarkar explains

India chief selector Ajit Agarkar has explained the reasoning behind the captaincy transition from Rohit Sharma to Shubman Gill in ODIs, admitting that it was a “difficult” but important decision keeping the future needs of the team in mind.

Agarkar reckoned that with the 50-over format taking a backseat in the international calendar, the chance to test the leadership skills remains limited as India prepare for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

Rohit retaining the ODI captaincy would have meant that India would have three different captains for three formats, something that Agarkar labelled “practically impossible”.

“It’s practically impossible to have three captains across formats,” Agarkar said after announcing India’s squad. “With the next World Cup in 2027, we felt it was the right time to have a new captain. There aren’t too many ODIs in the next couple of years, and the new captain needs time and opportunities to build his team.”

Asked whether or not Rohit was communicated about the decision beforehand and how did he react, Agarkar stated that the senior player was kept in loop. However, he did not reveal any details of Rohit’s reaction to the same.

“Rohit Sharma has been communicated about change of captaincy. We don’t play too many ODIs and we needed to give the next guy enough time. How Rohit has taken the decision to change captain is between him and selection committee. (On Rohit being removed after winning Champions Trophy 2025) Even if Rohit wouldn’t have won Champions Trophy, this was a difficult decision,” he added.

The move essentially means that Gill holds a leadership position in all three formats, as he is the Test and ODI captain and the vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav in the T20I unit.

Meanwhile, Rohit, who has been picked in the ODI squad alongside Virat Kohli, will open the batting with Gill. His last international appearance was in March 2025, during the Champions Trophy, which India won under his leadership.

Rohit, who took charge as India’s full-time ODI captain in December 2021 as Kohli’s successor, had a stellar run in the position, winning 42 of the 56 ODIs he skippered in, which translates to a win percentage of 75. India lost only 12 games, while one each ended in a tie and no result.

Rohit enjoyed fair bit of success at multi-team events as the captain, leading the team to 2018 Asia Cup title as a stand-in skipper before winning the 2023 Asia Cup as the full-time captain. Under him, India also made it to the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, the summit clash of which they lost to Australia to finish as runners-up. Rohit’s reign as an ODI leader ended with the 2025 Champions Trophy triumph.