Former India bowler and head coach Anil Kumble feels speedster Jasprit Bumrah is a better fit for the ODI captaincy role than Shubman Gill, considering his importance and stature in the team as well. Team India will have to be prepared for a transition, including in the ODI format, which will need a new captain to steer things forward after Rohit Sharma’s departure as well. And, he named Bumrah as the ‘natural’ and ‘automatic’ choice for the ODI captaincy role as well.

“Shubman is already in the leadership group, and eventually he will get to that captaincy. Now whether it will be immediately after Rohit leaves one-day cricket, or else Bumrah will come in, which is the automatic choice both for Test match cricket and the ODI format, because you hardly play ODIs now,” Kumble said on ESPN Cricinfo.

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“If you look at white-ball cricket, although the next World Cup is 2027, in between 2023 and now, we have hardly played one-day cricket. It’s mostly been T20 format, where Suryakumar Yadav is already the captain. So, when you look at ODI format, to sort of look at Bumrah, and preserve him because he is very valuable, and try to utilize him for important tournaments. So, I think Bumrah will become the natural choice, but Shubman won’t be far behind,” he further added.

However, Rohit Sharma backed his team to do well.

“It is difficult to say. It is very difficult to say. There are many boys. But I want them to understand the importance of cricket first. Understand the importance of this place. They are new boys. I know they should be given responsibility. But let them earn it. Let them play some hard-fought cricket for the next few years or whatever it is. Let them earn it,” Rohit Sharma said on Star Sports (via Indian Express).