Former Indian selector Devang Gandhi has raised concerns over the current India National Cricket Team having separate captains for the three formats of the game. Currently, Rohit Sharma is India’s ODI captain, Shubman Gill leads the Test team, and Suryakumar Yadav captains the T20I team.
This is the opposite of the traditional Indian cricket approach. India has already believed in having a single captain for all three formats of the game to avoid any confusion. However, the BCCI had to move away from its long-standing “no split captaincy” policy last year.
Devang Gandhi questions India’s three-captain system
The Indian cricket team had to adopt a two-captain system after Rohit retired from T20I cricket following the ICC T20 World Cup 2025 triumph in the USA and the Caribbean. Later, Suryakumar Yadav took over as T20I captain, while Rohit continued to lead in Tests and ODIs.
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But in May 2025, Shubman Gill took over from Rohit as Test captain after the Hitman called time on his career in the longest format of the game. Since Rohit is still active in the ODIs, India now has three captains for the first time in its history, which has already raised many eyebrows.
Now, Devang Gandhi criticized the BCCI’s split captaincy formula and backed Shubman Gill to lead the Indian cricket team across all formats. He feels the BCCI should plan for the long term, including deciding who will captain the T20I team after the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Devang Gandhi backs Shubman Gill as India’s all-format captain
Gandhi mentioned that Gill has been groomed for leadership under Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, just like they were guided under MS Dhoni. Over the years, the current Test captain has grown into a reliable batter in all formats, and his performances show that he is capable of handling pressure.
Devang Gandhi was quoted as saying by the Times of India, “Shubman Gill has built an aura similar to what Virat had in 2017. Virat was groomed under MS Dhoni. Gill is also at his peak, like Virat was. He, too, has reacted to the captaincy as well as Virat did. Ajit Agarkar has shown great foresight by appointing Gill as Test captain. There’s no reason why Gill shouldn’t be in a leadership role in T20. The messaging has to be clear about who takes over after Surya.”
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Split captaincy doesn’t work in India: Ex-selector
India won all the ICC trophies under all-format captains since the early 2000s. And the former Indian selector believes that this approach gives the team stability and consistency. Gandhi wants the BCCI to hand over all three formats of captaincy to Shubman Gill after his impressive captaincy in England, where the young team levelled the Test series 2-2.
Gandhi signed off by saying, “Unlike other countries, split captaincy doesn’t work in India in the long run because you crave stability in the thought process. When you have a prolific all-format player leading in one format, it becomes difficult to not hand him the same responsibility in the other format. Gill has ticked all the boxes as a batter. And he has led in IPL.”
