5 Indians who failed on their ODI captaincy debut ft. Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill took over the reins from Rohit Sharma as India began their ODI series against Australia at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, October 19. The 26-year-old became the 28th skipper to serve the national side as skipper in the 50-over format. The Punjab batter was rewarded for his brilliant showing with the bat and as leader in the Test format, leading India to a 2-2 draw in England before clinching the two-match home series against the West Indies. He will now be keen to leave his imprint in the ODI format.

Gill’s promotion as a captain meant that Rohit Sharma would solely play a senior player in the side alongside Virat Kohli. The team management is ensuring that India develops a young skipper for the 2027 ODI World Cup, as Rohit turned 38 earlier this year.

Unfortunately for Gill, the right-handed batter failed to deliver with the bat on his captaincy debut in the 50-over format, perishing for just 10 runs. In this article, we take a look at five Indian captains who failed to perform in their maiden outing as a skipper in ODIs.

Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill failed to deliver with the bat, perishing for just 10 runs off 18 balls on his debut innings as skipper. The right-hander played cautiously at the start of the innings as the Men in Blue lost big guns in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Gill went for a flick shot but only managed to edge a length ball angling down the leg side. Josh Phillipe moved to his left to complete the catch with both hands.

Barring his 104 and 74, Gill has struggled against the Aussies in ODIs. The Punjab batter has amassed 290 runs in nine innings at an average of 32.22, including a duck and two single-digit scores.

Rohit Sharma

Former India captain Rohit Sharma also had a disastrous start to his captaincy career in ODIs. The swashbuckling opener had managed just two runs off 13 balls against Sri Lanka in the first of a three-match series in Dharamsala in 2017. None of the batters found themselves going as MS Dhoni top-scored with 65. The Men in Blue were skittled out for just 112 and lost the game by seven wickets.

Rohit, however, slammed a double century in the second ODI and helped India bounce back in the series. Thus, Gill will also be looking to make a strong comeback like the star opener.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is another big name in the list of Indian captains who flopped in their first-ever outing in ODIs. Chasing 349 against Sri Lanka, the right-handed batter departed for just two runs off five balls in the third game of the West Indies Tri-Nation Series. The Men in Blue were bundled out for 187, losing the game by 161 runs. Kohli had served as the stand-in captain for regular skipper MS Dhoni, who was ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

However, Kohli has the second-most runs as India’s ODI captain, amassing 5449 runs in 95 matches with the help of 21 tons and 27 half-centuries. He is only behind MS Dhoni (6641 runs in 200 games). Overall, Ricky Ponting stays on top with 8497 runs in 230 ODIs.

With Shubman Gill only 26, the youngster could go on to pile massive runs as ODI skipper.

Rahul Dravid

Former India captain Rahul Dravid had also failed to show up in his first-ever outing as skipper in the 50-over format. The right-handed batter departed for just six runs off 16 balls against the West Indies in the fifth ODI held in Rajkot. India, however, won the match by 39 runs to clinch the series 4-1. Dravid served as the stand-in captain as the regular captain, Sourav Ganguly, served a suspension for slow over-rate in the fourth ODI. The Indore-born cricketer became the regular skipper for India in 2005. During his captaincy stints, he amassed 2,658 runs in 79 matches with the help of two tons and 25 fifties.

KL Rahul

KL Rahul, who has led India in 12 ODIs, also failed to get himself going in his first match as skipper of the white-ball format. The right-handed batter perished for just 12 runs off 17 balls as India managed just 265/8 while chasing 297. As a result, the Men in Blue lost the match by 31 runs. Rahul took over the role as Rohit Sharma failed to recover from a hamstring injury, which also kept him out of the Test series in South Africa. Ahead of the series, Kohli was sacked as ODI captain after stepping away from T20I captaincy. As per reports, the selectors didn’t like the idea of split captaincy for the two white-ball formats.

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Edited by James Kuanal