Team India has reached Australia! Now the litmus test of Shubman Gill's captaincy will begin, will RO-KO get support?

Indian ODI batsmen Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and new captain Shubman Gill reached Perth on Thursday morning. Team India will play a three-match ODI series against Australia from October 19. Apart from Kohli, Rohit and Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy also turned up late. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and the rest of the coaching staff joined the team on a second flight from Delhi later on Wednesday evening. The one-day series begins in Perth on Sunday, followed by matches in Adelaide (October 23) and Sydney (October 25). After this, the five-match T20 International series will begin from October 29. Perth Perfect Start ↓ The Men in Blue land in Perth to kick off the Toughest Rivalry! 👊#AUSvIND 👉 1st ODI | SUN, 19 OCT on Star Sports Network and JioHotstar! pic.twitter.com/q1dFwwWVcZ — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) October 16, 2025 Gambhir’s big statement on Rohit and Kohli! There is a lot of excitement about this ODI series as it is Rohit and Kohli’s first international series after winning the Champions Trophy. The future of both the players is currently a topic of discussion, especially after Shubman Gill became the ODI captain. Kohli and Rohit have already retired from Test and T20 international cricket, but both are believed to want to play at least until the 2027 one-day tournament. Gill, who also captains the Test team, made an important statement after becoming the captain and took the names of both the players in an interview given to the media. “The experience that both of them have and the number of matches they have won for India is rare. Players with such skill, quality and experience are rare,” Gill said. During the recent home Test series win against the West Indies, he said of the pair’s chances of playing until the 2027 World Cup: “There are very few players in the world who have that much skill, quality and experience. So I support that.” India’s 15-member ODI squad for Australia: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdesep Shing, Prashid Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (wk), and Yashasvi Jaiswal. ODI Schedule of India’s Tour of Australia October 19 – 1st ODI, Perth October 23 – 2nd ODI, Adelaide October 25 – 3rd ODI, Sydney