Kind of friendships that Rohit has is something that I aspire for - Gill

Things seem to be moving at a rapid pace for Shubman Gill - Test captaincy, a successful away series in England, and now the ODI reins. Yet, the new poster boy of Indian cricket remains firmly grounded..

"The last few months have been very exciting for me," he remarked, exuding a sense of ambition rather than contentment. "I'm really looking forward to what the future has. I want to stay in the present and don't really want to look back on what I've been able to achieve or what we as a team have been able to achieve. (I) just want to look forward and win everything that we have in the upcoming months."

Ahead of the second Test against the West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, he also addressed the elephant in the room with a straight bat, shunning any sign of diplomatic doubletalk or prevarication. He made it clear that he expects Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to be available for the 2027 World Cup.

"Yes, of course," he declared, answering the question with effortless ease, in Hindi. "The experience that the two bring and the matches that they have won for India... There are very few players (with such a record). There are very few players in the world who have so much skill, quality and experience. In that sense, I'm very happy."

Kohli and Rohit, the icons of Indian cricket, have limited their availability to just one format (ODIs). The two will be playing under Gill in the three ODIs in Australia later this month.

Ajit Agarkar was not as forthright when responding to the same query recently. "I don't think we need to talk about it today," the chairman of selectors said in Ahmedabad a few days ago. Gill was also full of praise for predecessor and lavished encomiums on Rohit, stating that he would strive to imbibe the leadership qualities of the former captain.

"There are so many qualities that I have inherited from Rohit bhai. The calmness that he possesses and the kind of friendship that he has among the group is something that I aspire to. These are the qualities that I want to take from him."

Gill revealed that he enjoys a good professional rapport with coach Gautam Gambhir and the two want to make the players feel safe in the team. "Our relationship is really good," the captain mentioned. "It's very simple actually. We always try to have conversations around how we can make the players feel more secure and what kind of combinations that we can play."

Gill confessed that playing across formats is a challenge since mental fatigue can often creep in. "Physically, most of the time I feel fine. Sometimes there is mental fatigue. Because when you are constantly playing, there are certain expectations that I have from myself. And to be able to keep up with my own expectations sometimes becomes a challenge."