Why was Rohit Sharma stripped of the captaincy? ICC tournament records

By Ravi - Oct 05, 2025 04:36 PM
Last updated on Oct 05, 2025 04:36 PM

Rohit Sharma, one of the most successful ODI captains of the Indian cricket team, was suddenly removed from the captaincy on Saturday. In March this year, Rohit Sharma led India to the ICC Champions Trophy title. After that, India did not play any ODI match. Still, the decision to remove Rohit from the captaincy was taken. It is being said that keeping the future in mind, BCCI has appointed 26-year-old Shubman Gill as the ODI captain in place of Rohit.

The BCCI or the chairman of the selection committee has not given any clear reason for removing Rohit Sharma, but after the announcement of Team India for the Australia tour on Saturday, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said that we have informed him about this decision.

Also Read: https://possible11.com/blog/rohit-sharma-replacement-india-next-odi-opener-3-strong-options/

Why was Rohit Sharma stripped of his captaincy?

Team India's chief selector Ajit Agarkar has clearly stated that with only a few ODI matches remaining, it is impossible to have three different captains as it makes strategy difficult. He said, "Having three captains for all three formats is practically impossible. It makes strategy difficult." He further said, "At some point you have to think about the next World Cup, and this format is played very rarely now. Therefore, there are not many matches to give the next captain. He should be given time to prepare himself and formulate a strategy

This decision was made keeping Rohit Sharma's age in mind. In fact, by the 2027 ODI World Cup, Rohit will be 40 years old. Currently, he is 38 years old. This is the main reason for Rohit Sharma's exclusion from the team. There is no other possible reason.

Rohit Sharma ICC tournament records

Rohit Sharma's removal from captaincy has surprised everyone, as he has won 24 out of 25 matches in ICC tournaments. From 2017 to 2025, Rohit captained India in 56 ODIs and led them to victory in 42 of them. Rohit led India to victory in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Prior to that, he led Team India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Rohit's win percentage under his captaincy is 75%. This record is significantly better than Virat Kohli (68.4%) and MS Dhoni (55%).

Rohit Sharma is only the second player in cricket history to average over 50 and have a strike rate of over 100 in ODIs as captain. He is only surpassed by AB de Villiers in this achievement. In the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India, Rohit Sharma scored 597 runs, the second-highest by a captain in an ODI tournament.

India's ODI squad for Australia tour

1. Shubman Gill (Captain)
2. Rohit Sharma
3. Virat Kohli
4. Shreyas Iyer (VC)
5. Axar Patel
6. KL Rahul (WK)
7. Nitish Kumar Reddy
8. Washington Sundar
9. Kuldeep Yadav
10. Harshit Rana
11. Mohammed Siraj
12. Arshdeep Singh
13. Prasidh Krishna
14. Dhruv Jurel (WK)
15. Yashasvi Jaiswal

Also Read: ICC World Test Championship - (WTC 2025-2027) Points Table Updated

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