Excited to know players on a deeper level and get best out of them, says new Indian Test captain Gill
Newly anointed Indian Test skipper Shubman Gill has acknowledged his ascension to the role as the ultimate honour, with an eye on the upcoming England series beginning June 20. The 25-year-old talked about juggling batting with captaincy, recent retirements, and taking over from Rohit Sharma.
The Indian cricket team on Saturday revealed Shubman Gill as the new captain of the Test team, following the retirement of previous skipper Rohit Sharma last month. The 25-year-old has limited red-ball leadership experience with only four first-class games and a solitary India A game under his belt. However, Gill remains confident of his appointment over fellow contenders Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah, with the former named his deputy while the spearhead was overlooked keeping workload management in mind.
"Everyone has a different personality, so a good leader should always be able to know what makes his players to be able to have the best performance or the best outcome. That is always exciting to be able to have those conversations with the players, to be able to know them on a deeper level than just cricket, because then you're really able to know what can get the best out of them," Gill told BCCI.tv in his first interview since the announcement.
Gill's appointment has come under the scanner in several quarters owing to his middling numbers in Test cricket, where he has played 32 games and scored 1,893 runs at 35.05. The Punjab opener enjoyed a breakthrough start to his career in 2020/21 on a tour Down Under, his match-winning 91 in the fourth Test at Gabba helping India win a famous series. However, Gill has since struggled for consistency, averaging under 30 over the next three years and moving down to number three in the process. He began promisingly in his new role, scoring three tons last year, but a horrid Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the Australian summer saw him even get dropped for a Test. Nevertheless, Gill is unfettered about how the responsibility of captaincy will affect his batting, having already garnered plenty experience by leading Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League since 2024 and enjoying fruitful returns with the bat
"One of the things that I learned was if I'm a batsman, I'm batting out there. I want to be able to make decisions as a batsman and not as a captain. If I start thinking about other things, it just puts more pressure on me which is not required, because when you're batting out there, you want to be able to take those risks. You want to be able to make decisions that you would make when you are playing just as a batsman because that gives you the freedom," he said.
India's previous Test captains have been Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni, three of only five men to have led India to over 10 Test wins. Gill is cognizant of the legacy he has to carry on but chooses to focus on the learnings he took from them.
"When I was a kid, always inspired by the greats and the legends of Indian cricket and been very fortunate to be able to play with so many of them be it Virat bhai or Rohit bhai. Both were very contrasting in terms of their style, but it was very inspiring to see both of them working towards a common goal.
Virat bhai was always very aggressive, always wanting to lead from the front with hunger and passion whereas Rohit bhai was also aggressive, but you might not see that on their reaction or on their expressions, but he was also someone who was always very attacking on the field. Rohit bhai was someone who was very calm and tactically always very present. He's very communicative to the players, what he wants from the players and so these are the qualities that I learned from him," he said of the veterans.
Apart from Kohli and Rohit, Ravichandran Ashwin also announced his retirement on India's last assignment but Gill believes their influence will remain when India head to England for a marquee five-match Test series beginning June 20 to kickstart a new World Test Championship cycle.
"They have given us a blueprint on how to tour away from home and win matches and series. Yes, it's one thing to be able to deliver and execute but because we have that blueprint, we know how to tour away from home and win matches and series," Gill said of the retired trio.
"My favourite series that I played was also a five-Test series when England came to India (early 2024) and I think there's a different essence when you're playing a five-Test series. It's long, it's mentally and physically very challenging and I think that's the most exciting part," he concluded.
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