The retirement of Indian veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli marked the sudden appointment of Shubman Gill as the Indian test skipper. Shubman Gill showed his calibre as a captain when he led Gujarat Titans twice in the Indian Premier League.
Indian selectors and head coach Gautam Gambhir found Shubman Gill to be the most futuristic captain in the Indian side. Shubman Gill also took the bait to serve as the test skipper, leaving behind more experienced players like KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah.
However, after India’s loss in the Headingley test, he received much criticism from greats around the world. This time around, former Englishman Nasser Hussain took a dig at senior players like KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, who, despite their presence in the team, could not make a difference in crunch situations.
He blamed that they could not help the new captain with on-field decisions, and hence none of them were up to the mark.
“India had 3-4 captaincy in Headingley, but none of them were up to the mark,” said Nasser Hussain from the commentary box.
Shubman Gill’s batting performance at Leeds
Shubman has never had the best of records in Test cricket outside India; however, the captain’s band might have given a jolt to his confidence. Shubman Gill delivered his maiden Test hundred in the SENA countries in the first innings of the India vs England Leeds Test.
After the fall of two wickets quickly on Day 1, Shubman came in to bat at no. 4, a new role in the Indian test lineup. He dominated ever since the first ball, as he was part of two huge partnerships with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant.
Alongside the two centurions Jaiswal and Pant, Shubman produced a stunning innings of 147, as he surpassed every former skipper except Vijay Hazare’s record for most runs on debut by an Indian skipper in a test. However, he was dismissed for 6 runs in the second innings.
Shubman Gill will have to take calls ahead of the Edgbaston test
As captain of the new Indian test side, Gill will have to make some crucial calls on whom to keep and whom to drop from the Indian side.
Though there is not much to change in the Indian batting lineup, the lower order would need some changes after a set of unconvincing performances from the Indian lower order in both innings of the 1st test.
Also, likes of experienced players like KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant would have to provide Gill with some valuable insights on the game, citing their prior experiences in England.
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Record of Indian Test Captains in England in the last decade
India does not have a great record in England in the longest format of the game. However, great Indian skippers Kapil Dev and Rahul Dravid remain the two skippers to have never lost a test on English soil as the Indian skipper.
In the last decade of test captaincy, from 2015 onwards, when MS Dhoni retired from the red-ball format, Virat Kohli took over the role of India’s red-ball skipper. Kohli might have played 9 tests in England as the skipper of the Indian side, but he also remains the most successful skipper with 3 wins.
Jasprit Bumrah is the only skipper to have represented India in tests in England; however, India lost the only game Bumrah captained. Now, Shubman Gill begins his captaincy journey on English soil, as he starts with a humiliating loss at Headingley.