There were questions on how Shubman Gill would lead the Indian side on English shores ahead of the series. Not many gave the side a chance, but what transpired in the next few weeks was one of the best Test series in the modern era. While Gill himself acknowledged there are tweaks to be made in his leadership, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has given the green flag that Gill is ready to take over the white-ball captaincy as well when Rohit Sharma decides to step down in the format.
“He will get the ODI captaincy as well because we don’t know how long Rohit Sharma will continue as captain. Gill is ready to take over. He scores in white-ball. He has performed well as captain here in Tests and led from the front. When you go with a young team, you have to do both things – score with the bat and do well as captain. A brilliant tour for him overall,” he said on his YouTube channel.
“Shubman Gill, as captain, created opportunities with both hands in this series. When he became captain, there were many questions as to why he was made captain, looking at his Test record. A young captain reached England under a lot of pressure with a young team. He answered with his bat and it came to a point where he was compared to breaking Sir Don Bradman’s record. Such a strong comeback with the bat,” Kaif said.
More clarity
“I have more clarity where personally I need to work on as a captain …,” Shubman Gill said after famous win at the Oval. Gill was also taunting those who have questioned his selection calls, criticising him for not including specialist bowlers and backing all-rounders.
“There would always be opinions and, in hindsight, could have done this, could have done that. But I think what matters for me is… in that moment… When your decision goes well, people obviously praise you. When it doesn’t go well, I’m aware that there are going to be shots taken at me… I’m fine, because at the end of the day, I know that I made a decision which was the best for our team,” he said.
