ODI World Cup: Did Gambhir turn his back on Agarkar on role of Big Two?

• Gautam Gambhir’s praise for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of the West Indies ODIs marks a notable shift from his earlier guarded stance on the veterans.

• Gambhir and outgoing selector Ajit Agarkar had been tasked with India’s transition, with Agarkar facing criticism over decisions involving Rohit, Kohli and other senior players.

• As speculation grows over Agarkar’s successor, Ravi Ashwin has defended his tenure, while Gambhir’s latest comments underline the continuing influence of the ‘Big Two’ ahead of the 2027 World Cup.

The build-up to the three-match ODI series against the West Indies, beginning Sunday, gathered pace with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma checking into Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, 23 September. What also attracted considerable attention, however, was head coach Gautam Gambhir waxing eloquent about the ‘Big Two’ and the value they could add for ODI captain Shubman Gill in the run-up to the 2027 ICC World Cup.

No prizes for guessing that there appears to have been a sudden paradigm shift in Gambhir’s thinking. Along with outgoing chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, he had been tasked with overseeing the ‘transition’ in Indian cricket for more than two years.

The turn of events that eventually saw Agarkar emerge as perhaps the most vilified selection committee chief in recent times could not have happened without the head coach’s buy-in. Anyone who has followed Gambhir’s press conferences over the past year can attest to his apparent indifference towards the two senior stars.

Ever since the illustrious duo were left with only the ODI format, ostensibly with an eye on a possible last hurrah at the 2027 World Cup in South Africa, Agarkar and Gambhir had maintained that it was too early to say whether they would remain part of their plans. Yet the former allrounder was subsequently singled out over suggestions that he had sought to engineer Rohit’s exit, following a selective media leak that the Lord’s ODI during India’s white-ball tour of England would be the ‘Hitman’s’ career finale.

The 39-year-old Rohit, who had repeatedly been kept on tenterhooks over his future, answered his critics with a well-paced 138, although India went on to lose the series. What further pushed Agarkar into a corner was BCCI secretary Devojit Saikia entering the fray to bat for Rohit, amid reports of growing differences between Agarkar and VVS Laxman, the highly respected head of the Centre of Excellence. 

Has Gambhir, then, changed tack on the two stalwarts? Here is what he told the official broadcasters:

"In one-day cricket, when you talk about it, he’s [Gill] very fortunate that he’s got the likes of Rohit and Virat to help him on the field and off the field as well. And then, more importantly, I think that calmness, I think keeping the emotions aside because when you are young, sometimes you can get dragged into the emotions as well."

The conversation on JioHotstar also dwelt at length on Gambhir’s relationship with Rohit.

"See, Rohit’s and my relationship wasn’t just that of a captain and coach. Rohit’s and my relationship goes back to when Rohit came into the team and I was a senior player at that time."

This is the kind of respect and reassurance both senior pros had arguably been looking for since returning to the Indian dressing room in October 2025, after Rohit’s removal as ODI captain and both players’ Test retirements. Instead, they have had to cope with what appeared to be relentless pressure to perform from one series to the next.

When India became the first country to win back-to-back T20 World Cups last March in Ahmedabad, Gambhir conspicuously avoided mentioning either former captain Rohit or Kohli while reflecting on the twin triumphs. He thanked his predecessor Rahul Dravid for helping India end their trophy drought in 2024, as well as Laxman and Agarkar. There was, however, no mention of the captain of that winning campaign or Kohli.

One wonders whether there will be many tears shed for Agarkar, with the search for his successor already under way. Parthiv Patel, the former India wicketkeeper from Ahmedabad, is being touted as a popular choice.

There was, however, support for Agarkar from the plain-speaking Ravi Ashwin, who felt the former pacer deserved better after making some of the toughest and most unpopular decisions during his three-year tenure from 2023 to 2026. The off-spin great candidly said he was among the players on the Gambhir-Agarkar axis's list to be phased out when he retired abruptly midway through India's 2024-25 Test tour of Australia.

Like politics, Indian cricket appears to have no permanent friends or enemies.