Sanjay Bangar reveals his thoughts on the selectors’ influence in naming Shubman Gill as ODI captain over Gautam Gambhir’s decisions

Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar recently shared his thoughts on the shift in Team India’s leadership. With the ODI captaincy moving from Rohit Sharma to the young Shubman Gill ahead of the next Cricket World Cup, scheduled in two years, Gill now leads both the ODI and Test squads. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav continues as T20I captain. When asked about the challenges of coaching multiple leaders across formats, Bangar offered a direct and honest view.

According to Bangar, it’s the coach who must adapt to the team setup. He further pointed out that naming Gill as the ODI skipper was probably a decision driven by the selectors, not by Gautam Gambhir.

“From what I understand, the decision likely wasn’t made by the coach. A coach has to work with the squad. The coach has to adjust to the team, not the other way around. That’s how things usually work in cricket. Shubman Gill is a very talented batter and is still young. In my view, this was a call made by the selectors,” he said.

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel offered a differing perspective from Bangar.

“It’s a completely reasonable decision. Even coach Gautam Gambhir pointed out in his interview that people should consider his perspective as well. We often assume the team belongs solely to the captain, but with the way modern coaching works, there’s a lot of effort behind the scenes. It’s not easy for coaches to manage captains who may have different mindsets, especially when they’re not always travelling together. Shubman Gill is one of the few players who is part of all formats and travels consistently with the team. Consistent planning and communication become difficult otherwise. I support Gambhir’s stance when he said he preferred having only two captains instead of three,” Parthiv said.