Australia vs India: Captain Shubman Gill backs Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for 2027 ODI World Cup

2025 has been a very eventful year for Shubman Gill. From being a prodigious talent trying to cement his spot across formats for India to becoming the all-format captain designate, things have moved at a rollicking pace for the 26-year-old.

Gill's maiden captaincy stint was potentially a baptism by fire - an overseas tour of England with the senior duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma just having retired from the format - but the Punjab lad showed remarkable leadership quality and stellar individual form. Against all odds, India went on to draw the five-match series 2-2 on the back of a thrilling win in the final Test at The Oval.

While Gill's elevation to T20I vice-captaincy prior to the Asia Cup came as a shock, his captaincy appointment in ODIs was a predictable announcement. After all, this was the format where he had already established himself as one of the world's best batters. Even as India are dealing with a Test series against West Indies at home, the focus is understandably on the white-ball tour of Australia.

The ODI futures of Kohli and Rohit have been a major talking point amongst the media, fans and pundits over the last few months. With the two veterans only playing one format for India, rust is inevitable but Gill backed his senior teammates to go the distance for the next ODI World Cup which is in 2027.

"Yes, of course," said Gill at the press conference before the second Test against West Indies.

"The experience that the two bring and the matches that they have won for India... There are very few players (with such a record). There are very few players in the world who have so much skill, quality and experience. In that sense, I'm very happy."

Gill has big shoes to fill as captain, given that Rohit ended on a high with two ICC trophies across formats in successive years. While statistical success is an obvious goal in his mind, Gill is more keen on imbibing some of his predecessor's strongest personality traits.

"There are so many qualities that I have inherited from Rohit bhai. The calmness that he possesses and the kind of friendship that he has among the group is something that I aspire to. These are the qualities that I want to take from him."

The other major task for Gill is to ensure that he and head coach Gautam Gambhir are on the same page in terms of their vision and tactics. So far, things seem to be going smoothly, if Gill's words are to be believed.

"Our relationship is really good. It's very simple actually. We always try to have conversations around how we can make the players feel more secure and what kind of combinations that we can play."