By Vivek Prabhakar Singh

Colombo [Sri Lanka], October 5 (ANI): Sri Lanka cricket commentator Roshan Abeysinghe praised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decision to appoint Shubman Gill as India's ODI captain, calling it an 'excellent move'.

He highlighted Gill's impressive leadership in England, where, despite being a young side and the absence of key players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Gill led from the front and inspired his team to a 2-2 draw.

The BCCI announced the ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming bilateral series against Australia on Saturday, which will commence on October 19. The Men in Blue will play three ODIs and five T20Is during the tour.

Big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be back in action for the first time since the Champions Trophy 2025 final, but what raised eyebrows was that Rohit will not be leading the ODI squad on the Australian tour. In place of him, right-hand batter Shubman Gill will lead the side, and in-form batter Shreyas Iyer will be his deputy.

While speaking to ANI, Abeysinghe said, 'It is an excellent move. I think Gill had a massive challenge when he went to England. I heard from England pundits: 3-1 (in favour of England), 2-1, some say 3-2. However, nobody said that India would draw the series or win it. It was a very young side, batting looked thin. Jasprit Bumrah is not playing all matches. There were handicaps in that Indian line-up. There was no Rohit, Virat. The way Gill rose to the occasion, he inspired and led from the front, living up upto the captaincy title on the field. The mentality and mindset are not very dissimilar (for ODIs and T20Is), so it is a great decision to have the same Test and ODI captain. But T20I is a different ball game.'

Abeysinghe also expressed his views on the controversy surrounding India's refusal to accept the Asia Cup trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi. He believes sports and politics should be separate, expressing disagreement with tit-for-tat actions in cricket.

Abeysinghe wonders if Naqvi overreacted by taking away the champion's board, calling it unfortunate.

The Men in Blue refused to take the Asia Cup 2025 trophy from Naqvi after clinching the trophy, beating arch-rivals Pakistan by five wickets. Also, they refused to shake hands with the Pakistani players after the matches, citing strained relations between the two nations following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

'I do not agree with tit for tat. I feel sports and politics should be separate. Naqvi is the chairman of PCB. Let us forget it. Always, champions receive the trophy from the president of ACC. He was there in that capacity, not as the PCB president. I can understand where he is coming from, but I wonder if he overreacted by taking away the champion's board. It is very unfortunate. He is also the politician and you could see India's decision and player's decision was great extent, influenced by politics back home. I am not going to point out what is right or wrong, but cricket is a great leveller. I have heard that when South Korea won the 1996 World Cup, a civil war had been ongoing for 30 years. These are unconfirmed stories, but from credible people, that the LTTE, the group which was fighting Sri Lanka, stopped and watched the WC final. They were bitter enemies, but still had time to see Sri Lanka win,' Abeysinghe added. (ANI)