‘Biggest honour to lead Team India in ODI cricket’:Shubman Gill shares his first reaction as India’s new one-day captain; says – ‘World Cup is the ultimate goal’

India has entered a new era in one-day cricket with young opener Shubman Gill being named the new ODI captain. The announcement came on Saturday when chief selector Ajit Agarkar revealed the squad for the upcoming three-match series in Australia, starting October 19. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has shared his first reaction on the BCCI TV. The change comes just two years before the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa. Gill, who has already been seen as the future of Indian cricket, now has the responsibility of fulfilling the ‘ultimate dream’ of Rohit Sharma, lifting the ICC trophy. For Rohit, this marks the end of his journey as India’s ODI skipper. He had openly spoken before the 2019 World Cup about how winning the trophy was his biggest dream. Despite two strong campaigns in 2019 and 2023, heartbreaks in the semifinal and final denied him a fairytale finish. With Gill taking charge, India hopes to build a strong and settled unit over the next two years, aiming to finally lift the 50-over World Cup in South Africa in 2027. Also read: Why was Rohit Sharma removed as ODI captain?: 7 reasons why two-time ICC trophy-winning leader lost out to Shubman Gill Gill excited about new role, shared his first reaction Speaking for the first time after his appointment, Shubman Gill expressed pride in leading the Indian team in ODIs. On BCCI.tv, Gill said: It is the biggest honour to lead your country in one-day cricket, and to lead a side that has done well…it is immense pride for me, and I hope I will be able to do great. I think we have about 20 ODIs before we play the World Cup, and that is the ultimate goal. So everything that we play and all the players that we play, they will try to play their best, and hopefully we will be ready before we go to South Africa and win the World Cup. Former India skipper Rohit Sharma’s ODI legacy Rohit Sharma will be remembered as one of India’s most successful ODI captains. He won 42 of his 56 matches as skipper, giving him an impressive winning percentage of 75. Under his leadership, India also lifted back-to-back ICC trophies—the T20 World Cup in Barbados (2024) and the Champions Trophy in the UAE (2025). Despite his achievements, the selectors felt the timing was right to bring in fresh leadership with an eye on the long-term future. Also read: India vs Pakistan cricket match for fourth consecutive Sunday: Indian men’s team claimed a hat-trick of wins in Asia Cup; Women in Blue lead 11-0 over PAK Agarkar explains the decision in a press conference Chief selector Ajit Agarkar admitted it was not an easy call but said it was important to plan. “Whether it is now or maybe six months later, those are the calls that I suppose we have put in place to make. Like I said, it is tough with one-day cricket at this point, because if you are going to make that call, you want to try and make it reasonably early and give the other guy enough chance to try and get that confidence of leading (in) another format, so that was the idea.”