The Australia tour of 2025 did not go as planned for the Indian team when it came to performance as a team in the ODI series. Notably, Shubman Gill was handed over the captaincy in the format for the first time.
He had big shoes to fill as he replaced Rohit Sharma, who won the Champions Trophy as the leader of the team in his last venture.
The result 2-1 did not go in his favour, even though the form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli was positive to be taken, especially from the final match in SCG. As a batter, Gill also did not have the best of times Down Under. The role of the Indian captain in ODIs is a challenging role and especially when you are coming to the position after names like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma.
Gill vs Kohli, Rohit, Dhoni
| Captain | First ODI series as captain | Team result | Inns | Runs | Avg | SR | 100/50 |
| Shubman Gill | Ind in Aus 2025 (3 ODIs) | 1-2 | 3 | 43 | 14.33 | 81.13 | 0/0 |
| Virat Kohli | Ind in Zim 2013 (5 ODIs) | 5-0 | 3 | 197 | 98.5 | 92.1 | 1/1 |
| Rohit Sharma | SL in Ind 2017 (3 ODIs) | 2-1 | 3 | 217 | 108.5 | 120.56 | 1/0 |
| MS Dhoni | Aus in Ind 2007 (7 ODIs) | 2-4 (1 NR) | 6 | 176 | 35.2 | 85.02 | 0/2 |
What the numbers actually say
Shubman Gill – In his first series as ODI captain, Shubman Gill registered scores of 10, 9, and 24. A total of 43 runs from 53 balls at a strike rate of 81.13 and an average of 14.33. It was an away series in Australia, which adds context, but his performances were still below par.
Virat Kohli – His first series as the captain was in Zimbabwe. Kohli led his team to a 5-0 series win, while scoring 197 runs at an average of 98.50. This was an elite performance while leading the team for the first time at the international stage.
Rohit Sharma – When it comes to performance as a captain in the debut ODI series in the role, Sharma stands as an outlier. India won the series by a 2-1 margin, but Rohit gave a historic performance. In the three matches, he scored 217 runs at an average of over 100, with a stellar 208 in the second ODI in Mohali.
MS Dhoni – One of the greatest captains of India, especially in the white ball format, MS Dhoni lost his first ODI series as a captain against Australia at home. It was a seven-match series, which Australia took by a 4-2 margin. Dhoni’s batting performance was decent as he logged 176 runs at an average of 35.20.
When we compare the performance of these players in their first ODI series as captain, Shubman Gill’s performance comes out at the bottom. As per the volume of runs, Rohit stands ahead of the others; Kohli stands out as a consistent batter.
When we consider the results, both Gil and Dhoni have lost their first ODI series as captains. But we all know the history MS wrote as the leader of the Indian team, the ICT fans will hope that Gill goes on to do the same.