Shubman Gill (25), whose family famously moved from the rural hinterland in Fazilka to cricket savvy Mohali to pursue their son’s dream, has finally been made the Indian Test team captain for India’s tour of England, beginning June 20.
His coronation heralds a new era of Indian cricket in the post-Kohli and Rohit phase. Gill has been preferred over the much-senior Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant as the BCCI considers him a long-time investment.
Having led India in five T20Is on a tour of Zimbabwe last year, the Punjab Ranji team and IPL franchisee Gujarat Titans recently, the BCCI is betting on Gill’s temperament, confidence, assertiveness and leadership skills, thinking that he is their man to take the Indian Test team forward.
Chairman of India’s selection panel Ajit Agarkar said, “We take a feedback from a lot of people, and we’re hopeful that he’s the guy who can… it’s obviously going to be, like it always is, a high-pressure job. But we’re hopeful we’ve picked the right guy. He’s a terrific player and our best wishes for him.” Besides accolades from veteran cricketers, Gill’s grooming by former India coach Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and off late GT coach Ashish Nehra has prepped him for the captaincy role. Agarkar explained that Bumrah was overlooked for captaincy due to workload management reasons and Rishabh Pant will “help Gill out with all the experience he has. At the moment, these two are the guys we feel will take the team forward”.
Making his Test debut on December 26, 2020 in Australia, Gill has played 32 Tests and scored 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05. Right from the very first match, the tall, fair and handsome heart-throb was billed as “the next big thing in Indian cricket”, the “superstar” and “the classy batter” by veteran cricketers and fans alike but his critics say he is yet to live up to the hype. They point
out the big difference between his home (42.03) and away (27.53) average. He was the vice-captain of India (U-19) in the 2018 World Cup.
Gill, the 37th test captain, is the third from the region after Lala Amarnath and Bishan Singh Bedi. India will begin the 2025-27 WTC cycle with five Tests versus England. These will be played at Headingley (from June 20), Edgbaston (from July 2), Lord’s (from July 10), Old Trafford (from July 23) and at The Oval (from July 3.
