Former T20 World Cup-winning Australia captain Aaron Finch believes Shubman Gill will remain calm in his first ODI captaincy role for India, especially since he will have experienced players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli around him, unlike during the England tour.

Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar surprised the cricket world by revealing that he personally informed Rohit about the management’s decision to relieve him of the captaincy. The leadership was handed to Gill two years before the 2027 World Cup so he could settle into the role ahead of the big event.

The 26-year-old has now officially taken charge in two formats. He was given the Test captaincy after Rohit retired from the format in May. In his first assignment, Gill led India in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. India drew the series 2-2, even though Gill had few senior players to guide him.

Also Read -Rohit Sharma vs MS Dhoni: Comparing Their Captaincy Stats in ODIs

Aaron Finch Praises Shubman Gill’s Leadership Skills

"Shubman Gill is a brilliant player. He has shown his leadership skills. The way he led in the Test series in England proved what a good leader he is. He’s the right man to lead Indian cricket forward," Finch said (ICC).

"Shubman has already shown what a good leader he is in T20 cricket and Test cricket, so I’m sure this will be no different. He’s a brilliant player, especially in white-ball formats. The way he captained against England in the Test series is a big tick in his box to take the next step and lead India across all three formats," Finch added during an ICC Digital interview from Colombo during the ongoing Women’s World Cup.

Finch also highlighted the advantage of having experienced players around. “In the England Test series, Gill didn’t have many senior players to turn to for advice on the ground, but he did a wonderful job himself. Having Rohit and Kohli around will give him calmness. It allows him to share ideas, both on and off the field, about how he wants the team to function, because they have been a huge part of the team for a long time,” Finch said.

He concluded, “Shubman has already shown his leadership in T20 and Test cricket. With support from senior players, he can take Indian cricket forward in all formats.”

Aaron Finch said - "Shubman Gill is a brilliant player. He showed his capabilities in leadership. The way he led in the Test series in England, he showed what a good leader he is. He's right man to take lead Indian cricket forward". (ICC). pic.twitter.com/PBHNvKuGbG

— Tanuj (@ImTanujSingh) October 5, 2025

Shubman Gill Aims for World Cup Glory as India’s New ODI Captain

After being named ODI captain, Shubman Gill is focused on the World Cup. India is expected to play around 20 ODIs before the tournament, and Gill wants to lift the trophy in South Africa.

"It is the biggest honour to lead your country in ODIs and to captain a team that has done well. I am very proud. I hope to do great. We have about 20 ODIs before the World Cup, and the ultimate goal is the World Cup in South Africa," Gill said in a video posted by the BCCI.

India ODI Squad for Australia:

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

On August 29, 2013, the cricket world witnessed a jaw-dropping batting performance from Aaron Finch. In Southampton, the Australian opener scored a thunderous 156 runs against only 63 deliveries—still the highest individual score in T20 Internationals.

With the help of Aaron's explosive innings, Australia, batting first, registered 248—at the time, the second-highest total in T20Is. He thrashed 11 boundaries and a staggering number of 14 over boundaries. Finch went off the mark with a six, and later on in the match he touched every record in the same way. In the England bowling line-up with Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, and Jade Dernbach, they found no reply against the batting exhibition.

During the innings, Finch played some outrageous shots, which took the standards of Twenty20 cricket to the next level. After Aaron Finch, Shane Watson was the second-highest scorer for Australia with 37. Literally, the match turned into a one-man show. England started to lose wickets while chasing the gigantic target. Their middle-order batters started to fight back in a proper way.

Read More: India wicketkeeper for Asia Cup 2025 misses Duleep Trophy match against NorthEast Zone

Joe Root went berserk 

Joe Root went out of the box to score an unbeaten 90 off 49. Ravi Bopara scored a quick-fire 45. Those individuals are not enough to match the required run rate. Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood were expensive but managed to claim a brace each. England got 209 runs in exchange for 6 wickets; Australia won the match by 39 runs. 

"It's good to come here from Australia 'A' side and play some good cricket. It was one of those days, not easy for the quicks, no spin, so I managed to get it away," Aaron Finch said after the match. Then the captain of Australia, George Bailey, compared Finch's innings with Chris Gayle's batting in the Indian Premier League (IPL). "I think the only innings I've seen like (Finch's) was Chris Gayle in the IPL."

The former T20 World Cup-winning captain of Australia, Aaron Finch, has enjoyed so much success for the national side in his international career. But the biggest highlight of his stint as the leader of the side was the T20 World Cup 2021 winning moment, which came against New Zealand in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

However, the veteran batter, who announced his retirement from international cricket in February 2023, has now become part of a hilarious incident due to his participation in LEGEN-Z T10 League at the Sawai Mansingh International Stadium in Jaipur.

See Also: "Started feeling love in..."- Rinku Singh shares story of meeting Priya Saroj

The funny moment took place at the toss presentation when Finch and the other unknown captain turned up before the very first encounter of the league. The video went viral as the fans were quick to make fun of the batter, who lost the toss and revealed that he had no idea of many players in the team, because he had met them just a few moments ago.

Watch: Aaron Finch shocks fans with hilarious act in T10 Tennis league

Along with the right-handed batter, the other former cricketers, including Herschelle Gibbs, Ross Taylor, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, and others, are in the six-team franchise tournament. The presence of these experienced players will surely help the young brigade to get more exposure with them in skills and other departments.

Aaron Finch bhai ye kis line mei aagaye aap pic.twitter.com/R3NRhWdlhd

— Fantasy Cricket Pro 🏏 (Viren Hemrajani) (@FantasycricPro) August 22, 2025

Finch is the second leading run-getter for Australia in the shortest format of the game. The right-handed batter has smashed 3120 runs in 103 innings at an average of 34.28 and a strike rate of 142.53, with the help of two centuries and 19 half-centuries at the best score of 172 runs against England at Southampton. He always used to bat with aggression in the opening position.

The Victoria-born has overall clubbed 11458 runs in 380 innings of the T20s at an average of 33.60 and a strike rate of 138.16, thanks to 77 fifties and eight centuries at the best score of 172 runs. At the moment, he has joined the commentary panel as an expert in various leagues, including the IPL.

T20 cricket has been touching new heights in recent years. From international matches to franchise-format tournaments, jam-packed galleries are the normal sight of any twenty-twenty contest.

With the growing opportunity and popularity, the new generation and cricket aspirants often dream about participating in the format. But the players, who are regular in international duties across multiple formats and clubs as well, can feel the pressure of a congested schedule.

Overplays can cause serious injury or performance issues. Due to excessive workload, players like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami suffered long-term injury spells in the recent past. So, work management for a star player has now become one of the major tasks for respective cricket governing boards to protect their talents as much as possible.

Read More: ''I passed my fitness test..' - Sanju Samson cleared to play against Punjab Kings on May 18 in IPL 2025

A stright reply from the Aussie 

Former Australia international Aaron Finch, with an unfurnished reply, said that he would opt to scrap the shortest format of the game to maintain a reasonable balance. During a candid interaction session, the former cricketer, now a cricket expert, was asked, "If you had to drop one of the three international formats to make the calendar manageable, which one would it be?"

In the reply, Finch said without taking any guard, "I would probably drop T20 Internationals to just World Cups. I think that having them every two years means that you can almost play just that World Cup event. There are so many T20 competitions that all players from all countries get exposure to, so I think we could go without that in the short term."

Watch here what Aaron Finch said

An interesting take from Aaron Finch 💬 pic.twitter.com/b32icDGepe

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 18, 2025

Former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch has tipped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as the favorites in their upcoming clash against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Finch, speaking on Star Sports, highlighted RCB’s recent strong form as a key factor behind his prediction.

Set to host GT in a crucial encounter of IPL 2024 on May 4, Saturday, RCB finds themselves in a must-win situation to keep their playoff hopes alive. Finch emphasized RCB’s advantage, particularly on a Chinnaswamy pitch known to favor batting and challenge bowlers.

“RCB are looking favourites to win the match…”

Recalling the previous encounter between the two teams at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Finch noted RCB’s dominance, particularly against GT’s spinners. Despite GT’s talented spin options like Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed, and Sai Kishore, RCB’s batters managed to exploit their bowling, registering an impressive victory.

“They could play 3 spin options with the match ups there, will they? No. RCB are looking favourites to win the match as Gujarat are not playing as well as a team at the moment,” Finch said.

However, Finch acknowledged the challenge for RCB to secure a playoff spot from their current position in the points table. With just three wins in ten matches, RCB faces an uphill battle, while GT sits marginally higher with four wins from ten games.

Prediction about upcoming match

The upcoming clash presents a crucial opportunity for both teams to bolster their playoff prospects. RCB, eager to build on their recent momentum, aims to secure a double over GT and climb up the points table.

“Shubhman Gill, the last time he played an IPL game there he got a brilliant hundred, knocked out RCB from the playoffs, but I just think RCB are in kind of a run where it isn’t enough for them to make the playoffs, but they are in very good form,” Finch added.

See Also: “In my cricket life, MS Dhoni plays my father’s role” Pathirana opens up about CSK legend

As the battle intensifies in the IPL, all eyes will be on RCB and GT as they vie for a crucial victory to keep their playoff dreams alive.