Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif has hinted that Shubman Gill could be bearing a sense of guilt as he follows Rohit Sharma in his initial days as India's new ODI captain. Gill was named skipper for the current Australia tour, which signals the start of India's transition period before the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Kaif said that Gill thrived as a batter under the leadership of Rohit and that the young player is well aware that Rohit was taken out of the captaincy even when he was producing solid performances. While discussing on his YouTube channel, Kaif said that Rohit had led India to several victories and even to the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup, and therefore, his removal from the captaincy was a difficult scenario for the new captain.
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"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.
As Kaif said, Gill is in a tricky spot here succeeding an elder player who hasn't done much wrong as a captain. He said that this would be the test of Gill's mindset, as to be in command of such stalwarts as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the same dressing room would surely make any young captain go through some mixture of fear and sense of duty.
"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.
Kaif stressed that such phase-outs are a natural part of the progression of cricket but conceded that Gill may be under pressure to fill the void left by Rohit while still having to share the pitch with two of India's all-time greats from today.