Colombo [Sri Lanka], October 5 : Former T20 World Cup-winning Australia skipper Aaron Finch feels Shubman Gill will find a state of calmness in his maiden ODI captaincy assignment for India, considering he will enjoy the presence of experienced bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, unlike the England tour.
Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar sent shockwaves through the cricket world after revealing that he had personally informed Rohit about the management's decision to move him away from captaincy. The captaincy baton was passed down to Gill two years before the 2027 World Cup, as the management wanted him to settle into the role before the showpiece event.
The 26-year-old has officially assumed the leadership role in two formats. Gill was handed the Test leadership role after Rohit bid adieu to the format in May. In his first project, he led India during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. Under his watch, India returned with a 2-2 draw, even though he hardly lacked an experienced guiding figure around him.
Gill will begin his ODI captaincy odyssey in Australia, with the series opener scheduled for October 19 in Perth. Finch is among those who remain interested in seeing how Gill fares in his debut ODI series as captain. He feels the fact that Rohit and Kohli will be beside him in the field could prove a boost for the impressive 26-year-old.
"Shubman has already shown what a good leader he is in T20 cricket and Test cricket, so I'm sure this will be no different. He's a brilliant player, particularly in the white-ball formats, and the way that he captained against England in the Test series is just a huge tick in his box to take the next step and take over the Indian leadership right the way through (all three formats)," Finch said on ICC Digital from Colombo during the ongoing Women's WC.
"I think when you look back to that England Test series, he (Gill) didn't have many other options that he could turn to for advice, probably when he was out on the ground, but he did a wonderful job himself. But I think just having those guys (Rohit and Kohli) there will be a real calmness for him as well, because it's the ability to bounce ideas, both on and off the field on how you want the team to function going forward, because they've been such a huge part of the team for a long period of time," he added.
After being appointed as the ODI captain, Gill has set his sights on the World Cup. With India expected to play around 20 ODIs during the buildup to the marquee event, Gill intends to lift the coveted trophy in South Africa.
"It is the biggest honour to be able to lead your country in the One Day and to be able to lead a side that has done well. It's an immense pride for me. I hope I will be able to do great. I think we have about 20 ODIs before we play the World Cup, and obviously the ultimate goal is the World Cup in South Africa," Gill said in a video posted by the BCCI.
India ODI squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.