“Don’t know how long Rohit Sharma will..”- Mohammad Kaif predicts Shubman Gill as ODI captain

Rohit Sharma now plays only ODIs for India and captained India to the Champions Trophy win earlier this year.

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has spoken about the future of veteran India ODI captain Rohit Sharma and also predicted Shubman Gill might soon become the next India captain in 50-over cricket.

Rohit Sharma has been India’s ODI captain since 2021 and has won the Asia Cup in 2023, took India to the final of the 2023 ICC World Cup, and recently won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in March. However, Sharma, 38, retired from T20Is in 2024 and recently called time on his India test career as well.

With 2026 being a T20 World Cup year, there are very few ODIs scheduled, and India will play ODIs on their white-ball tour of Australia in October for three ODIs and five T20Is.

While Rohit Sharma is still India’s ODI captain, the only format he plays, along with Virat Kohli, Mohammad Kaif feels a change might come soon.

“Gill is ready to take over”—Mohammad Kaif on India ODI captaincy

Before the recently-concluded England test series, there were doubts about Shubman Gill’s ability to guide the Indian team as he took over from Rohit Sharma. Although few people thought the team had a chance, one of the greatest test series in modern history took place over the course of the following few weeks.

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has indicated that Gill is prepared to assume the white-ball captaincy as well, should Rohit Sharma decide to stand down in the format, even if Gill himself recognizes that there are adjustments to be made in his leadership.

“He will get the ODI captaincy as well because we don’t know how long Rohit will continue as captain. Gill is ready to take over. He scores in white-ball. He has performed well as captain here in tests and led from the front. When you go with a young team, you have to do both things—score with the bat and do well as captain. A brilliant tour for him overall,” he said on his YouTube channel.

“Shubman Gill, as captain, created opportunities with both hands in this series. When he became captain, there were many questions as to why he was made captain, looking at his Test record. A young captain reached England under a lot of pressure with a young team. He answered with his bat, and it came to a point where he was compared to breaking Sir Don Bradman’s record. Such a strong comeback with the bat,” Kaif said.

Shubman Gill is seen as a future all-format India captain and has led India in T20Is as well, with Suryakumar Yadav being the current permanent captain in the shortest format.

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