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Gautam Gambhir Keen On Having Separate Indian Teams For ODIs & T20Is
Follow UsHardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel are the only three players who are certain starters in India’s ODI and T20I XIs for all conditions
Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir is not keen on mixing up the two white-ball formats and wants to have separate teams for ODIs and T20Is. According to a report in the Times of India, Gambhir wants more in-form players in the 20-over format.
Since winning the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies, India have lost only three of their last 20 T20Is. In this period, India have defeated Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa and England.
Suryakumar Yadav is leading India in T20Is, while Rohit Sharma is taking care of the ODI set-up. Under his leadership, India won the 2025 Champions Trophy, and despite being 37, Rohit has made it clear that he has no plans of retiring from the 50-over format.
The Men in Blue are scheduled to play 24 ODIs before the 2027 World Cup (WC) in South Africa and Gambhir will be eager to form the core of the team as soon as possible. Virat Kohli is likely to continue, but the management will have to take a call on Rohit, who will be close to 40 by the next WC.
Meanwhile, the next T20 World Cup will be played in 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. As of now, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel are the only three players who are certain starters in India’s ODI and T20I XIs for all conditions.
There’s also Varun Chakaravarthy, who played a key role for India in the 2025 Champions Trophy, but Gambhir and his management would want to maintain the 33-year-old’s workload and might ask him to focus only on the T20Is at least till the 2026 T20 World Cup.
