Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has backed the selectors’ decision to appoint Shubman Gill as the new captain in ODIs ahead of the series against Australia. Shastri said the Indian board has taken the decision while keeping the future in mind, just like Australia had done in the past.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said they have taken the decision while keeping the ODI World Cup in mind and further added it is difficult to have three different captains for three different formats.
On the other hand, Shastri said the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will continue playing in ODIs as long as they have the hunger to keep playing at the top level.
Ravi Shastri said on the LisTNR Sport podcast, “They are looking at the future and this is what Australia did really well in the past. They wouldn’t wait till a player starts failing. They’ll be proactive like you saw with Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist, similarly, Dean Jones to Steve Waugh. So India is looking ahead two years from now. Gill respects both Rohit and Virat, having played under both of them.”
Shastri said the upcoming ODI series will be Rohit and Virat’s last Down Under.
“Unless there is a series scheduled in Australia before the 2027 World Cup, this will be their ( RoKo) last time in Australia. That’ll be their last tournament ( 2027 World Cup). They are giants and will want to go out on their terms. And they’ll not want to hang around. If they are not up to it in terms of hunger and fitness, they’ll go just like they left Test cricket and T20Is.”
Meanwhile, Shastri reckons it is imperative to challenge the star players occasionally, as India has a ‘big-player’ culture.
“You have to challenge even the star players occasionally. Because you have to pull through in one direction so that had to be set early. That it’s we and not I. In India, there’s a lot of hero worship. There’s a lot of individual records that count so we said, ‘To hell with all that’. It is what the team does and a team victory counts more than anything else. You might get five 100s in the series but if you lose or don’t compete in the series, it’s pointless,” said Shastri.
The first ODI between India and Australia will be played at Perth on Sunday.
