A new era of Indian Test cricket has begun, as the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has announced Shubman Gill as the new Test captain. Gill, who replaces the retired Rohit Sharma, enters a new career phase, with many challenges ahead of him.
While many experts, including legendary opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar, were backing Jasprit Bumrah to take over the reins, the BCCI decided that Gill is touted to be one of the rising stars of Indian cricket, so why not give him the reins of captaincy?
But Chief selector Ajit Agarkar insisted that fitness was the main priority, and he may not even be able to play all five Tests.
“I don’t think he will be available for all five Tests as far as the physio and the doctors have told us,” “They will take a call on whether he will be available for 3-4 Tests. If he is available for 3-4 Tests, he is going to win us a few Test matches… We are happy that he is a part of the squad.”
Agarkar: Financial Express
India have also named their 18-man squad for the Series.
Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel , Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
Former England captain was amongst those who reckoned that Bumrah should have been given the chance to lead the team out in England.
Embed from Getty ImagesI personally would’ve gone with Bumrah just for this tour. I saw him captain in Perth just before Christmas and he was outstanding: the way he led the team, he had that touch as a captain. I would’ve gone with him and had Shubman next to him. His captaincy was so good. But Gill, he’s for the here and now and for the future.
Vaughan BBC SPORT
This is a valid point, as Gill has only played three Tests in England thus far, which is not enough in terms of experience.
While you get the idea that the selectors have an eye on the future, you need an experienced veteran to guide them through the tough phases of cricket, and Gill isn’t at that level yet.
Gill has 32 Tests under his belt, while Bumrah has 45. so Bumrah is clearly the more experienced, especially having played nine Tests in England thus far.
So not giving him the Captaincy and letting somebody like Gill take the reigns is a huge gamble, due to the fact that A he is still relatively new to this format, and B he isn’t in the best of form in terms of red ball cricket.
Amongst the members of the 18-maan squad, their are some interesting names to watch out for, such as Sai Sudharsan and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe right hander has an average of 48.9 in first class cricket, which is decent, but how will he fare in English conditions?
Sudharsan has an average of 39.93, which is also pretty good. He and Gill will presumably be in the India A squad for the second game against the England Lions on 6th June.
There is no doubt that we should be in for an enthralling series between England’s Bazballers and this young dynamic, and exciting India team.
Can Gill beginning his captaincy era on a high?
Sen us your thoughts on World In Sport.
