Rohit Gurunath Sharma

Shubman Gill hails senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of the tour of Australia.

Social media was inundated with memes about the decision of Gill replace Rohit as captain, as both chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir came under fire.

Speaking on his official YouTube channel, R Ashwin suggested that players need to be handled better when they are near the end of their careers.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have already retired from the Test format and T20I, making ODIs their only active format right now.

Some also connected Rohit Sharma's change as a message to the selectors following his abrupt retirement from Test cricket.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma can’t be judged by runs in Australia. It will depend on how they shape up, fitness, hunger and more.

In fact both the ICC titles, which India won under captain Rohit was right after the ODI World Cup heartbreak, where India lost to Australia in the final.

The 39-year-old noted Gautam Gambhir's failure to include Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the 2027 World Cup plan would be a "really poor decision".

Mohammed Siraj latest white-ball stint was with the Gujarat Titans during IPL 2025.

India will enter the series following some high-profile changes, chief among them is the appointment of Shreyas Iyer as vice-captain and Shubman Gill as captain.

India's ODI captaincy change was noteworthy because Ajit Agarkar, the current chairperson of the selection committee, stressed the need of giving Shubman Gill enough time to get ready for the 2027 World Cup.

Rohit Sharma was dismissed early in his career by Mumbai cricket circles for being a "mad and moody" captain, according to former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, who recalled an incident that occurred 13 years ago.

Kaif also mentioned Rohit's recent successes in the 2024 T20 World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy, where his performances were crucial to the team's quest for the championship.

Sunil Gavaskar was adamant that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli only made themselves available since the series was against Australia, whom India had lost to at home in the 2023 World Cup final.

In order to be eligible for selection, Ajit Agarkar expressed that he expects Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scheduled to be played later in the season.

Under Rohit's leadership, India won two ICC titles including the 2024 T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy this year, and finished runner-up in the last ODI World Cup.

In a significant development, the Indian selectors on Saturday handed over the ODI captaincy to young Test skipper Shubman Gill.

Shubman Gill has already proved his credentials as a skipper during the England tour earlier this year, where he led a young Indian unit to a 2-2 draw in the five-match Test series.

The committee is walking the talk on transition and only time will tell if they have taken some hard calls a bit too soon.

Rohit Sharma's international career is reaching its final station but he needs to bow out on his own terms.