Shubman Gill to Lead India in ODIs on Australia Tour, October 2025. Shubman Gill will take over as India’s ODI captain starting with the upcoming tour of Australia in October 2025. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the ODI and T20I series against Australia on Saturday, October 4. One of the biggest surprises was Gill being named as Rohit Sharma’s successor as ODI captain. Following the announcement, India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained the rationale behind appointing Gill to lead the side.
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been included in the ODI squad, marking their return to the national team after last representing India in March during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
In addition, Shreyas Iyer has been promoted to vice-captain of the Indian ODI team. India’s tour of Australia will feature three ODIs and five T20Is, with the ODI series scheduled from October 19 to 25, followed by the T20I series from October 29 to November 8.
Shubman Gill: “Having three different captains across formats is nearly impossible”: Ajit Agarkar
Explaining why Shubman Gill replaced Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain, Ajit Agarkar said that having separate captains for each format was an impractical approach. He added that Gill would get sufficient time to settle into the role ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
“Managing three different captains across formats is nearly impossible. Since ODIs are currently the least played format, the priority is the T20 World Cup. The goal is to give Gill time to establish himself. He has been India’s ODI vice-captain for a long time,” Agarkar said.
Shubman Gill was earlier appointed India’s Test captain in May after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the format.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya have been ruled out of India’s Australia white-ball tour due to injuries. Pant sustained a foot fracture during India’s Test tour of England, while Hardik got injured during India’s title-winning campaign at the 2025 Asia Cup.
India squad for Australia ODI series:
Shubman Gill (C), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
