Shubman Gill sets the record straight on chatter about Indian ODI dressing room atmosphere not being ideal

Shubman Gill commented on sharing the ODI dressing room with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, reflecting on their experience and quality in the format.

While India’s Test team finds itself in a state of transition under the captaincy of Shubman Gill, he is set up to have better success as he takes over the reins of the ODI outfit in the two years leading up to the 2027 World Cup. The reason is fairly fundamental: in the 50-over team, Gill still has the support of two of Indian cricket’s titans, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli either side of him to rely on.

Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli have a conversation during a practice session. (PTI)

Gill took over captaincy of the ODI team ahead of the tour of Australia in October. While India lost the series 2-1, there was still plenty to like about what the team could offer across all bases. However, as the Sydney ODI and the subsequent series against South Africa at home went on to prove, India are still very much Kohli and Rohit’s team in this format – the only one they are still playing at the international level.

Ahead of India’s three-match series at home against New Zealand, Gill spoke to reporters in a press conference and reflected on what it was like to have two monumental figures such as Kohli and Rohit still doing their thing in the XI.

“Among the two players you have named, one is one of the greatest openers (Rohit) of all time in ODIs, and Virat bhai is one of the greatest ODI batsmen ever. So, definitely when you have these two people in your team, it makes your life a lot more easier,” Gill was happy to admit.

“And whenever you are in that kind of situation, if you are in a tough situation, they always have been in those kinds of situations and conditions many times in their life. So, you can always go to them and see what they are thinking or what they would do. And that piece of information is very valuable for any captain,” he continued.

Gill shuts down talk of dressing room fracture

While Gill has led Gujarat Titans and Punjab on occasion, 2025 was a big challenge for him with national captaincy – and 2026 is set to be even more of the same.

As World Cup losing finalists and Champions Trophy victors in the last two years or so, India will likely head into every white-ball bout over the foreseeable future as favourites, given the depth of quality the team possesses.

The focus for now is on the T20 World Cup, but overall, Gill thinks the squad is in a good headspace for the challenges that await them this year. While there have been reports of some friction within the dressing room in the ODI outfit as ideas between senior players and management clash, Gill played those down.

“I think the team atmosphere is amazing. The players that you named have been in this atmosphere for decades, and they are the people who always try to push Indian cricket forward,” he explained. “And I think even in the last series, you saw how well they performed. So I think the atmosphere in the team is great right now.”

Gill also might think that ODI cricket is his strongest and most reliable format at the moment: India’s poor showing against the Proteas in Test cricket has placed a lot of pressure on him and Gautam Gambhir, while his own personal form in the T20I team saw him dropped leading up to the World Cup.