Ahmedabad, Oct 4 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named India’s ODI and T20I squads on Saturday for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, starting October 19, and one thing that grabbed everyone’s attention was Shubman Gill’s appointment as India’s ODI captain.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Gill had succeeded Rohit Sharma as the captain in the 50-over format and also shed light on the panel’s reason behind making this decision.

With former captains Rohit and Virat a part of the squad that’ll face Australia, Gill will now take charge in ODIs besides his red-ball captaincy.

Here are the excerpts from Agarkar’s press conference, where he addressed the media after announcing a 15-man squad for the ODIs and a 16-member T20I squad.

On having three different captains for the three formats, Agarkar said: “It’s practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats in terms of planning. You’ve got to start planning. You also play it the least. We are two years away. We don’t play as many games. It is a bit of a challenge with one-day cricket. The focus has been on the T20 World Cup. We will surely start planning for the ODI World Cup. Gives the next guy enough time.”

On whether Rohit was informed about the ODI captaincy being handed over to Gill, Agarkar said: “It’s a conversation between me and Rohit. But of course, he’s been communicated.”

Agarkar, on the possibility of Shubman Gill burning out, said: “Hopefully not. Still quite young. We saw what he did in England under immense pressure. Really positive signs there. We hope there’s no burnout. As team management, we try to manage it as best as possible. You’ve also got to give the guy enough time.”

Asked if Rohit and Gill will continue opening in ODIs, Agarkar confirmed saying: “At the moment, Rohit and Gill are likely to open. People tend to forget how good Jaiswal is. It’s not like a Test series where you can carry a few extras.”

On Bumrah being rested for the Australia ODIs and his inclusion in the T20I squad, Agarkar gave clarity on the pacer’s workload management, saying: “We’ve already rested him for the one-day games. When we can manage his workload, we will do it. There is always a plan. We all know how important he is. We also need to consider the team’s interest. Siraj bowls a lot of overs as well. We’ll end up having a lot of bowling to do. We’ll try to manage the seamers to minimise the risk of injury.”

Speaking of Rohit and Kohli’s fitness after a long break from cricket, Agarkar mentioned: “They have both done their fitness tests. They’ve gone through the required norms that have been put in place. I haven’t heard anything beyond that.”

Speaking on Rohit and Kohli playing just one format for India going forward, Agarkar opined: “Those are two really experienced guys who have been around for a long time. They will find it really weird to play just one format. You should ask them. It doesn’t happen too many times.”

Asked about Hardik Pandya’s injury and whether he’ll feature against Australia, Agarkar said: “At the moment, he’s not going to be fit for Australia due to the injury he picked up before the finals of the Asia Cup. Once he starts his rehab, we’ll get a better idea of the timeline.”

Asked if Rohit’s removal as ODI captain was a difficult call given the fact that India won the Champions Trophy under his leadership, Agarkar said: “Even if India had not won the Champions Trophy, it would have been difficult. But you’ve got to look at what’s best for the team. It’s tough with one-day cricket. You want to take a call reasonably early to give the new guy enough time.”

Asked if Virat and Rohit would feature in domestic competitions, Agarkar added: “Whenever the guys are playing or not, they should be playing domestic cricket. Whether it’s possible with international cricket playing or not, time will tell.”

India’s tour of Australia will commence on October 19 with the three ODIs, followed by a five-match T20I series that will begin on October 29.

India’s ODI squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

India’s T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, and Washington Sundar.

–IANS

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