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Shubman Gill replacing Rohit Sharma as India’s ODI captain – that’s the biggest takeaway from the squad for the Australia series. That ‘c’ written next to Gill’s name has made everyone fawn over Rohit’s legacy and talk about the future of ODI cricket with a new captain at the helm before the 2027 Cricket World Cup.
Shreyas Iyer finally rewarded
The attention was diverted towards Gill and Rohit, so everyone missed out on ‘vice-captain’ written next to Shreyas Iyer’s name. The middle-order batter has been handed a promotion. Some would say it’s karma. Shreyas wasn’t included in India’s squad for the 2025 T20 Asia Cup and now, he has been rewarded by being named deputy to Gill.
SHREYAS IYER HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS INDIA’S ODI VICE CAPTAIN. pic.twitter.com/3VRMy2H29Y
But there’s much more to this. Shreyas has been billed as a potential India captain for a long time. We saw him lead the Delhi Capitals at just 24 and take them to their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) final in 2020. Injuries derailed him for a while, but then he took the Kolkata Knight Riders to their second IPL title in 2024.
Later that year, Mumbai won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy under him. This year, he took the Punjab Kings to their second IPL final. Shreyas’ tactical acumen and ability to manage pressure are well-regarded. He has been leading the India A team in a 3-match one-day series against Australia A as well.
What about KL Rahul?
You could say this was a long time coming. But what does this mean for KL Rahul? The wicketkeeper batter was named Rohit’s deputy when Virat Kohli was removed as India’s ODI captain in late 2021. He subbed in whenever needed. With Shubman Gill’s rise, he handed over the job of deputy. The move makes sense now since Gill is India’s ODI and Test captain now.
But why has Rahul been moved on from? He’s India’s most senior batter in Test cricket and even led in South Africa a little while ago in Rohit’s absence, yet Ravindra Jadeja was named deputy to Gill for the home West Indies Test series. In ODIs as well, after Rohit and Kohli, Rahul is India’s senior-most batter.
Although Shreyas isn’t exactly young, as he’ll turn 31 in December, Rahul is two years his senior. Moreover, Rahul hasn’t really done well as captain in the IPL, while Shreyas has succeeded with three teams already. It’s safe to assume that this is the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) way of saying they are looking at the future.
India ODI squad for Australia
Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), 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
The post What does BCCI picking Shreyas Iyer over KL Rahul as India’s ODI vice-captain mean? appeared first on Inside Sport India.
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