Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli nearing the end of the road in ODI and Indian cricket

Shubman Gill named 50-over captain for tour of Australia in preparation for 2027 World Cup

India's Virat Kohli, right, and Rohit Sharma are slowly being phased out of the ODI picture. AFP

The writing seems to be on the wall for India veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after selectors named a new leadership group for the tour of Australia with very little clarity about their future at the 2027 ODI World Cup.

Test captain Gill has replaced Rohit - India's T20 World Cup and 50-over Champions Trophy winning skipper - as ODI captain for the tour of Australia that begins on October 19 and includes three one-dayers and five T20s.

Rohit, 38, and fellow stalwart Kohli, 36, have both retired from Tests and T20s but were named in the 50-over squad.

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Still, their position in Indian cricket is a precarious one with Gill in leadership positions in all formats and the hugely impressive Shreyas Iyer named vice-captain.

Gill, 26, is now Test and one-day skipper, and vice-captain to Suryakumar Yadav with India's T20 side.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said Gill was named captain now so that he gets enough time to prepare for the 2027 World Cup. While that event is two years away, teams play very few ODIs nowadays and mainly feature in them closer to a major tournament.

"Firstly, it's practically impossible to have three different captains for three formats," Agarkar said.

"Obviously, at some stage, you've got to start looking at where the next World Cup is.

"It's also a format which is played the least now, so you don't get that many games to actually give the next guy that much time to prepare himself or plan."

Indian cricket is in the midst of phasing out senior players. Rohit and Kohli were both unceremoniously excluded from the Test setup ahead of the England tour earlier in the year, culminating in their retirements from the format.

Gill led from the front during a challenging five-match series, scoring a staggering 754 runs and securing a respectable 2-2 series draw.

It was slightly easier to overlook Rohit and Kohli in Tests as both had been performing below par in red-ball cricket for some time. However, it was next to impossible to look beyond them in the 50-over format with both amassing well over 10,000 runs and giving exemplary performances in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the Champions Trophy in Dubai.

Even so, selector Agarkar was coy about their presence at the 2027 World Cup that takes place in South Africa, stating it's better to only focus on the upcoming Australia tour and not think too far ahead.

And one of the main reasons for this thought process is their age - both players will be close to or above 40 years of age during the South Africa event.

If reports are to be believed, at least one of the two veterans will likely call time on their international career during the Australia series. If that happens, at least they will get to say goodbye on the field and not through social media at odd hours of a weekday.

India also seem to have shut the door on veteran pacer Mohammad Shami, while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is also looking increasingly likely to play only Tests moving forward.

That means the core of the Indian team that came within touching distance of glory in the 2023 ODI World Cup final is being replaced in time for the next 50-over campaign in 2027.

Had India defeated Australia in Ahmedabad in that final, all veterans of the team would have been given ample time to plan the final phase of their careers without pressure.

The truth is the pain of that final defeat still runs deep in Indian cricket. Which can be seen in the ruthlessness of the selection panel, and coach Gautam Gambhir, who have decided to start to look beyond the players who had just recently won two major ICC trophies inside one year.

Rohit still makes an appearance on our timelines, working hard on his fitness, while Kohli has retreated from public life after shifting his residence to London. But as far as Indian cricket is concerned, their time seems almost up.