India’s new ODI captain Shubman Gill said on Thursday that he plans to incorporate the leadership qualities of former skipper Rohit Sharma, particularly his calmness and ability to foster team unity, as he prepares to lead the team in Australia later this month.The 25-year-old Gill, who currently captains India’s Test team, will make his ODI captaincy debut in a three-match series against Australia from October 19 to 25.
“The calmness of Rohit bhai and the friendships that he created among the group, I want to imbibe that,” Gill stated ahead of the second Test against the West Indies in New Delhi on Thursday.“To keep up with my own expectations becomes a challenge. I want to play across all formats, win ICC trophies,” asserted Gill as he takes over captaincy in two formats with Suryakumar Yadav the T20I captain.Addressing speculation about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s future, both have been named in the ODI squad for Australia, Gill emphasised their continued importance to the team in the ODI format, following their retirement from T20 Internationals and Tests.“The two have won so many games for India. Very few have so much skill and experience. We need them,” Gill affirmed.Ahead of the second Test, with India leading 1-0, Gill was asked about his equation with coach Gautam Gambhir. “Our relationship is good. We strike conversations about how to make players secure. Also we talk about preparing a pool of fast bowlers,” he said.India had won the first Test against the West Indies by an innings and 140 runs. The second Test gets underway on Friday (October 10) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
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