The period of transition in Indian cricket following the departure of giants Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli was not supposed to be smooth and nothing seems better suited to serve as a metaphor in the very first Test of the England series at Headingley. The only Indian picked to captain this new era is Shubman Gill, who was appointed the captain even though he did not have much leadership experience having only served two seasons of IPL as skipper with Gujarat Titans on his resume. As Jasprit Bumrah decided to not pursue the responsibility on the ground of work load, the team management headed by head coach Gautam Gambhir trusted Gill.
Shubman Gill was very bright as a batter. His first century in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) conditions exhibited tremendous temperament, a good technique, and maturity. His cool character at the crease was amazing and indicated that he had matured to the job. But as far as on-field captaincy was concerned, it started to doubt.
Gill was not that good at inspiring or strategizing. His field positions were defensive on Day 5 as England, with some 371 to get, got their openers, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, off the hook. Little tactical imagination was displayed, Gill not taking advantage of the rough patches which might have worried the left-handers. Nevertheless, the captaincy seemed to be out of sync despite the help of star players KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant.
Nasser Hussain, the former England captain was very critical. When commentating, he stated, that India possessed 3-4 captains at Headingley, but none of them were up to the mark. Hussain applauded Rahul in his brief spell of brilliance during a bowling shift but admitted, generally, that Gill was not a commanding force like Kohli or Rohit. Committee captaincy does not work.
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