“They wouldn’t wait till a player starts failing” - Former India coach’s huge claim on Kohli & Rohit’s future ahead of AUS vs IND 2025 ODIs

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri backed the decision to appoint Shubman Gill as the ODI captain, despite the veteran duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma still being active. Gill's first assignment as ODI skipper will be the upcoming three-match series in Australia, starting in Perth on October 14.

The 26-year-old played the initial stages of his international career under Kohli and established himself as the next star under Rohit. The legendary duo has retired from the T20Is and Test formats in the last year, but continue to be available in the 50-over format.

Talking about Gill taking over as captain with Rohit and Kohli still playing, Shastri said on the LisTNR Sport podcast (3:00):

"They are looking at the future and this is what Australia did really well in the past. They wouldn't wait till a player starts failing. They'll be proactive like you saw with Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist, similarly Dean Jones to Steve Waugh. So India are looking ahead two years from now. Gill respects both Rohit and Virat, having played under both of them."

Shastri also believes the upcoming tour will be Rohit and Virat's last in Australia.

"Unless there is a series scheduled in Australia before the 2027 World Cup, this will be their ( RoKo) last time in Australia. That'll be their last tournament ( 2027 World Cup). They are giants and will want to go out on their terms. And they'll not want to hang around. If they are not up to it in terms of hunger and fitness, they'll go just like they left Test cricket and T20Is."

Gill has already impressed as India's Test captain, winning four out of his first seven matches in England and against the West Indies at home.

"You have to challenge even the star players occasionally" - Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri admitted to challenging even the star players during his time as head coach, given the hero-worship culture in India and the lack of fitness. The former all-rounder coached the side to their back-to-back Test series wins in Australia in 2018/19 and 2020/21, among other incredible results.

"You have to challenge even the star players occasionally. Because you have to pull through in one direction so that had to be set early. That it's we and not I. In India, there's a lot of hero worship. There's a lot of individual records that count so we said, 'To hell with all that'. It is what the team does and a team victory counts more than anything else. You might get five 100s in the series but if you lose or don't compete in the series, it's pointless," said Shastri (via the aforementioned source).

He added:

"Once that message was put across and it started when MS was leading, then everything started falling in place. Even fitness standards had to improve. When you looked at Australia, England, or New Zealand, we were way behind. So we had to get up there to compete. Otherwise you'll be kings in your backyard but the moment you go outside, you'll be smashed. To compete outside, those levels had to rise."

Team India was the No. 1-ranked Test side for most of Shastri's coaching tenure, which ended in 2021. Yet, they failed to win an ICC trophy under him despite coming close on numerous occasions.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran