'It’s A Bit Of A Shock For Me': Harbhajan Singh Offers Insight Into Rohit Sharma's Ouster From ODI Captaincy

India vs Australia: Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh opened up on Rohit Sharma's removal from the ODI captaincy, saying that it was a shock for him.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Team India's squad for the upcoming white-ball tour of Australia on Saturday, October 4.

The squad announcement came as a shock to many fans as it marked a big change in the ODI team. The BCCI revealed Shubman Gill as the new captain of the 50-over format after removing Rohit Sharma from the position.

ALSO READ: 'He Deserved India's Captaincy': BCCI Faces Criticism For Naming Shreyas Iyer As Vice Captain In ODIs For Australia Tour

Harbhajan Singh Shows Concern Over Rohit Sharma's Captaincy Axe

While speaking on JioStar, Harbhajan Singh congratulated Shubman Gill for being appointed as the new ODI captain. He also pointed out Rohit Sharma's stunning records in the 50-over format.  

The former cricketer further added that if the board is keeping Rohit Sharma in the squad, then select him as the captain.

“Congratulations to Shubman Gill. Obviously, he has been leading the team well in Test cricket, and now he’s been given another responsibility: to lead the ODI side as well. Of course, Rohit has been replaced as captain by Shubman, and Rohit is someone who holds a very good record in white-ball cricket. To be honest, it’s a bit of a shock for me to see Rohit not being the captain. If you’re selecting Rohit Sharma, select him as captain, because he just recently won you the ICC Champions Trophy," Harbhajan Singh said on JioStar.

Harbhajan Singh hailed Rohit Sharma and said that he has been one of the pillars in the white-ball formats of the Indian Cricket Team.

"Rohit has been one of the pillars of Indian cricket when it comes to white-ball formats. I think he should have been given at least this tour. If the selectors are thinking about the 2027 ODI World Cup, it’s still far away. Shubman has a lot of time to grow into the role of ODI captain...,” he added.

ALSO READ: Shubman Gill Replaces Rohit Sharma As ODI Skipper, Virat Kohli Returns BCCI Announces India's Squad For Australia Tour

Rohit Sharma's Stats In ODIs

Rohit Sharma made his debut in the ODIs in 2007 against Ireland. Since then, the 38-year-old played 273 ODIs and 265 innings, scoring 11168 runs at an average of 48.76 and a strike rate of 92.80.

Team India will begin their tour of Australia on October 19 at the Perth Stadium in the first ODI match of the series. The second 50-over match will be played on October 23 at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. Sydney Cricket Ground will be hosting the third and final ODI match of the series between India and Australia on October 25.

India’s ODI squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.