Kaif said that Rohit, despite leading the team to 2025 Champions Trophy in his last 50-over assignment, was removed from captaincy, as Gill took over as his successor.
Former middle-order batter Mohammad Kaif has expressed that current India ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill will be having mixed feelings on replacing Rohit Sharma as the team’s skipper. Kaif said that Rohit, despite leading the team to 2025 Champions Trophy in his last 50-over assignment, was removed from captaincy, as Gill took over as his successor.
According to Kaif, this move will take a toll on Gill’s mentality of having to lead someone like Rohit — a senior and his opening partner. The youngster might even be feeling guilty of taking over the leadership duties from someone who has been the second most successful captain for India in the One-Day Internationals.
“It takes time for any new captain, now, for Gill, he has Rohit Sharma, a proven leader, playing under him. Gill also knows that Rohit Sharma has not done anything wrong as a captain. He was removed from captaincy. When Gill goes to sleep in his hotel room, he must be thinking that Rohit bhai has not done anything wrong. He must be feeling the guilt inside, ‘that people are backing me, but think about Rohit bhai, he did so well and won trophies, but even after that, he was removed, and I was named captain’,” said Kaif in a video on his YouTube channel.
“So, considering everything — fatigue, travel, playing so many matches on the trot, and having the task of captaining Rohit and Kohli, it will take time. This is a transition phase for Gill as ODI captain. Whenever he leads Rohit and Kohli, he will feel nervous. So this is a time where the runs are not coming from the bat, and we lost a bilateral ODI series, I don’t even remember when we lost a bilateral series. So, all of this has happened under his captaincy, and this had to happen,” said Kaif.
Gill has been under poor form as both a batter and a captain in his maiden ODI assignment as skipper. He scored just 10 runs in the Perth ODI, followed by a nine-run outing in Adelaide, as the Men in Blue lost both the matches to the Mitchell Marsh-led side. Gill now has an unwanted record of having lost his first-ever ODI, Test, and T20I match as captain.
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