India's newly-appointed ODI skipper Shubman Gill said veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain a key part of the team's 2027 World Cup plans as their skills and experience cannot go ignored.
Gill, who replaced Rohit as the ODI captain , also said that he would like to create friendships like his illustrious predecessor did during his nearly four-year stint.
Asked if he feels Rohit and Kohli are in the scheme of things for the 2027 World Cup, Gill wasn't cagey. During the press conference to announce India's squad to tour Australia, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar was non-committal on the issue.
"Of course. The experience that they (Rohit and Kohli) both have and the number of matches that they have won for India. There are very few players who have won so many matches for India," Gill said while fielding a number of queries on his elevation.
"There are very few players in the world who have the so much skill, quality and the experience that they have. So, in that sense, I'm very happy," the young skipper said.
Gill said he wants to imbibe the calmness and camaraderie that Rohit brought to the dressing room during his stint.
"There are so many qualities that I want to inherit from Rohit Bhai. One is the calmness that he possesses and the kind of friendships that he has created among the group is something that I aspire," he said.
While Agarkar announced his appointment after India won the first Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad, Gill confirmed that he had been informed of the promotion a few days before that.
"I'm very excited to lead my country in that format. And yes, the last few months have been very exciting for me. But I'm really looking forward to what the future has," he said.
"I want to stay as much as possible in the present and don't really want to look back on what I've been able to achieve or what we as a team have been able to achieve.
"Just want to look forward and win everything that we have in the upcoming months."
'Managing workload'
Gill, already the Test captain and now holding the armband in ODIs, is also being hailed as someone who can lead across all three formats. In such a situation, fatigue - mental and physical - remains a challenge.
"Physically, most of the time I feel fine. I think more than physical, sometimes there is mental fatigue. Because when you are constantly playing, there are certain expectations that I have from myself.
"And to be able to keep up with my own expectations sometimes becomes a challenge," said the batter who has already played 121 international games across three formats.
"I want to play all the formats and want to succeed in all the formats for the country. And win ICC titles. So if I want to do that, then this (playing all three formats) is the challenge that I have to go through," he added.
Relationship with Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir's entry as head coach has coincided with Gill's ascension as the national team leader. The skipper believes that he and the head coach are on the same page when it comes to picking a core group of 15-18 players and rotating them.
"Our relationship is really good," Gill stressed.
"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.
"We sort of want to look at 15 or 18 member squads where we are picking constantly players from that bunch and from that squad," he said.
A key discussion between them is on the need to have a group of fast bowlers.
"We have a pool of good fast bowlers. And we want to be able to keep recruiting them so that they get enough opportunities whenever we tour South Africa, Australia or New Zealand."
India had won the first Test against the West Indies by an innings and 140 runs. The second Test gets underway on Friday (October 10) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
Gill, who replaced Rohit as the ODI captain , also said that he would like to create friendships like his illustrious predecessor did during his nearly four-year stint.
Asked if he feels Rohit and Kohli are in the scheme of things for the 2027 World Cup, Gill wasn't cagey. During the press conference to announce India's squad to tour Australia, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar was non-committal on the issue.
"Of course. The experience that they (Rohit and Kohli) both have and the number of matches that they have won for India. There are very few players who have won so many matches for India," Gill said while fielding a number of queries on his elevation.
"There are very few players in the world who have the so much skill, quality and the experience that they have. So, in that sense, I'm very happy," the young skipper said.
Gill said he wants to imbibe the calmness and camaraderie that Rohit brought to the dressing room during his stint.
"There are so many qualities that I want to inherit from Rohit Bhai. One is the calmness that he possesses and the kind of friendships that he has created among the group is something that I aspire," he said.
While Agarkar announced his appointment after India won the first Test against the West Indies in Ahmedabad, Gill confirmed that he had been informed of the promotion a few days before that.
"I'm very excited to lead my country in that format. And yes, the last few months have been very exciting for me. But I'm really looking forward to what the future has," he said.
"I want to stay as much as possible in the present and don't really want to look back on what I've been able to achieve or what we as a team have been able to achieve.
"Just want to look forward and win everything that we have in the upcoming months."
'Managing workload'
Gill, already the Test captain and now holding the armband in ODIs, is also being hailed as someone who can lead across all three formats. In such a situation, fatigue - mental and physical - remains a challenge.
"Physically, most of the time I feel fine. I think more than physical, sometimes there is mental fatigue. Because when you are constantly playing, there are certain expectations that I have from myself.
"And to be able to keep up with my own expectations sometimes becomes a challenge," said the batter who has already played 121 international games across three formats.
"I want to play all the formats and want to succeed in all the formats for the country. And win ICC titles. So if I want to do that, then this (playing all three formats) is the challenge that I have to go through," he added.
Relationship with Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir's entry as head coach has coincided with Gill's ascension as the national team leader. The skipper believes that he and the head coach are on the same page when it comes to picking a core group of 15-18 players and rotating them.
"Our relationship is really good," Gill stressed.
"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.
"We sort of want to look at 15 or 18 member squads where we are picking constantly players from that bunch and from that squad," he said.
A key discussion between them is on the need to have a group of fast bowlers.
"We have a pool of good fast bowlers. And we want to be able to keep recruiting them so that they get enough opportunities whenever we tour South Africa, Australia or New Zealand."
India had won the first Test against the West Indies by an innings and 140 runs. The second Test gets underway on Friday (October 10) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
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