Gill will grow as a leader: Axar Patel

PERTH: The towering presence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the Indian ODI team can only help newly appointed captain Shubman Gill grow as a leader, said left-arm spinner Axar Patel here on Friday.

Following India’s second training session ahead of the first ODI on Sunday, Axar said Rohit and Kohli, who have not played for India since Champions Trophy in March, look sharp as ever.

Gill has succeeded Rohit as ODI captain despite the latter taking India to the Champions Trophy title.

“For Gill, it’s perfect, Rohit and Virat are there, and along with that, they have been captains, so they can give their input also, so it is very good growth of Gill’s captaincy,” said Axar in a joint interaction with Australian opener Travis Head.

It has been a while since Rohit and Kohli played competitive cricket but Axar said they are looking as sharp as ever.

“Like Travis said, they both are world class players. We can see after the first match (how their form is). They are professionals, so they know what to do. They have been practising in Bangalore’s Centre of Excellence, so I think they are ready to go.

“They are looking very good both in nets and fitness wise,” said the bowling all-rounder, who first visited Australia as an India player a decade ago.

Most of the Indian cricketers have played plenty of cricket in Australia including Axar, leaving them in a comfortable space of mind.

Axar said the talk in the dressing room is focused more on planning against the opposition rather than the bouncy nature of tracks considering their familiarity with the conditions.

“I feel that since 2015 (his first visit Down Under), there have been a lot of changes. When we used to come, the talk was about pitches, conditions, bounce and we used to play less as well.

“We started playing regularly after the 2015 World Cup, and, the series started getting longer, and after that the batters started doing well,” he said.

Axar has got big shoes to fill in the series, having been picked ahead of Ravindra Jadeja in the squad.

“I am very confident about this series. In the Asia Cup, I did well both with bat and ball. After a long time (2022 T20 World Cup), I would be playing in Australia. I am ready for the challenge,” he said.

It is silly to put Rohit and Kohli on trial in every game: Agarkar

New Delhi: Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be “assessed” but it would be “silly” to put them on trial in each and every ODI that they play from hereon, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said on Friday.

“It will be silly to put them on trial for every game. Once they start playing they will be assessed but they are not on trial,” Agarkar said at the ‘NDTV World Summit’.

Reiterating what he said in Ahmedabad after announcing Shubman Gill as new ODI skipper a couple of weeks ago, Agarkar once again avoided committing on their selection for an event which is still two years away.

“It doesn’t mean if they don’t get runs in Australia, they would be dropped and similarly if they score three tons in Australia, they would be selected for 2027 World Cup,” the former pacer said.