India replaced Rohit Sharma with Shubman Gill as ODI captain on Saturday (October 4). Where does he rank among India's best in the format?
Yesterday, India announced their ODI and T20I squads for the tour of Australia which begins on October 19. The most significant part of the announcement was the captaincy change in the 50-over format.
More: Explained: Why Shubman Gill has replaced Rohit Sharma as India ODI captain
This is India's first ODI assignment since the Champions Trophy in March. In the span of those seven months, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket, leaving ODIs as the only international format in which both are active. Gill took over the Test captaincy from Rohit on India's tour of England in June, and has now followed suit in ODI cricket.
The timing of the announcement meant Rohit's last match as India's permanent ODI captain was the Champions Trophy final, which India won unbeaten. In their previous multi-team ODI tournament, the 2023 World Cup, India won every game bar the final. Before that, they lifted the Asia Cup the same year. All these came under Rohit's captaincy.
He was made permanent ODI captain in late 2021, but Rohit had already led in 10 ODIs as a stand-in before that. India won eight and lost two of those matches. Overall, he led in 56 ODIs, making him one of eight men to captain India in 50 matches.
He boasts the best win/loss ratio of any Indian men's ODI captain to lead in at least 10 matches. With a win-loss record of 42-12, that number is 3.5. The next best was Rohit's predecessor, Virat Kohli, with a win-loss ratio of 2.407. These are the only two Indian men to win twice as many matches as they lost, as captain.
Three Indian captains – Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane and Anil Kumble – won every ODI they played as captain (six, three and one match respectively).
It is a testimony to India’s rise in the format that their last three ODI captains are first, second and third on this list.
Best win-loss ratio as India captain in men's ODIs (min. 20 matches)
| Captain | Span | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | W/L Ratio |
| Rohit Sharma | 2017-2025 | 56 | 42 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 3.500 |
| Virat Kohli | 2013-2021 | 95 | 65 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 2.407 |
| MS Dhoni | 2007-2018 | 200 | 110 | 74 | 5 | 11 | 1.486 |
| Rahul Dravid | 2000-2007 | 79 | 42 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 1.272 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 1990-1999 | 174 | 90 | 76 | 2 | 6 | 1.184 |
| Kapil Dev | 1982-1987 | 74 | 39 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 1.181 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 1999-2005 | 146 | 76 | 65 | 0 | 5 | 1.169 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 1996-2000 | 73 | 23 | 43 | 1 | 6 | 0.534 |
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