Gill joins Kohli as Indian captain to lose debut match across all formats

With his ODI loss in Perth, Shubman Gill has become only the ninth cricketer in the world to lose his debut match as captain in all three formats

Shubman Gill, after being named India’s ODI skipper replacing Rohit Sharma, said that he wanted to carry forward the legacy set by his predecessors, including the batting stalwart Virat Kohli, who led India from 2014 to 2022. However, Gill’s ODI debut as skipper of the Indian side saw him equal a captaincy record set by Virat Kohli — one he would have never wanted to replicate.

 

In the first ODI against Australia in Perth on Sunday, India ended up on the losing side in a rain-curtailed match, which resulted in Gill becoming only the second Indian captain after Virat Kohli to lose his captaincy debut game in all three formats of cricket (Test, ODI, and T20I). 

 

A tough beginning across formats for Shubman Gill

Gill’s ODI setback against Australia follows an already challenging start to his captaincy career across formats. In July 2024, he made his T20I captaincy debut against Zimbabwe in Harare, where India suffered a 13-run defeat in a low-scoring encounter. Earlier this year, in June 2025, he led India in Tests for the first time at Headingley, where the team went down to England by five wickets despite showing some fight.

Kohli’s early struggles as captain mirror Gill’s start

Interestingly, Virat Kohli’s captaincy career also began with defeats in his first matches across all formats. Kohli’s first ODI as India captain came in July 2013 against Sri Lanka in Kingston, a match India lost by a massive 161 runs. His Test debut as captain followed in December 2014 at Adelaide, where Australia triumphed by 48 runs in a thrilling contest. Then, in January 2017, England handed Kohli’s India a seven-wicket loss in his maiden T20I as captain in Kanpur. Despite these initial setbacks, Kohli went on to become one of the most successful captains in world cricket — a trajectory that Gill will surely hope to emulate.

Gill joins rare club of captains with triple debut defeats

With his latest loss in Perth, Shubman Gill has become only the ninth cricketer in the world to lose his debut match as captain in all three formats. The rare list includes some notable names such as Brendon McCullum and Mohammad Rizwan, both of whom overcame early defeats to achieve remarkable success as leaders. For Gill, this record may be an early stumble, but it is far from a defining one. Still only in his mid-twenties, he has time on his side to evolve as a captain and shape India’s future across formats. His calm temperament and sharp cricketing mind suggest that better days could be ahead.