Taken Over From Kohli, Rohit Sharma He Didnt Quite Have That On Field Aura: Nasser Hussain Shares His Verdict On Shubman Gills Captaincy
Former English cricketer turned commentator Nasser Hussain shared his verdict on India's newly appointed test captain Shubman Gill's captaincy after India was defeated by five wickets against The Three lions at first test of the five match test series. England successfully chased a target of 371 in the fourth innings at Headingley, leeds powered by Ben Duckett's 149 and Joe Root's unbeaten 53. Hussain while agreeing to India's former head coach Ravi Shastri stated that Gill lacked the aura of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharm and looked lackluster on the field. Shubman took the baton from Rohit Sharma who called it quits in this format, before Sharma India was led by Virat Kohli in this format.
"I thought I saw someone just finding his way, honestly. You've got to be very careful in the first Test match, the people he's taken over from, Kohli, and then Rohit Sharma. I thought he didn't quite have that on-field aura as the names I mentioned there. You look down on those two previous names, and you immediately see who was in charge of India. I looked down from the press box, the commentary position, there were a lot of captains; it was a bit captaincy by committee, which can happen in your early days as a leader because you're still senior players like Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul want to try and help you out as much as possible. I thought he followed the ball a lot. I thought he was reactive as opposed to proactive," he said.
Nasser also called out the captain and the seniors players in the team for not talking to Ravindra Jadeja who was attacked by English batters in the fourth innings with reverse sweeps which the Indian team had no answers for. The commentator also criticized Jadeja for not exploiting the rough made on the fifth day pitch.
"A word with Jadeja, maybe as a young captain, to go to such an experienced spinner, and go, you do know the rough is out there. Ravi Shastri and Mark Butcher are up there, going, show us where that ball is pitching, and it was pitching nowhere near the rough. Ravi was saying, a bit slow, a bit wide, bowl in the rough. I was surprised that not one of the senior players or captains went to Jadeja and said, Can we go a little bit wider. But Ravi's right, they lost the game for two things that he couldn't control," he added.
The second test between the two teams will be played from July 2nd at Edgbaston, Birmingham. India would like to fix their mistakes and level the series going forward. Shubman who became the 37th Test captain of India joined the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and KL rahul as the Indian captains to lose their first test as captain.
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First Post
35 minutes ago
- First Post
'He led better than Ben Stokes': Former India all-rounder makes big statement about Shubman Gill's captaincy
Former India all-rounder has praised Shubman Gill's captaincy in his debut Test as skipper, saying he led better than England counterpart Ben Stokes despite loss at Headingley. read more Shubman Gill's first Test as India captain ended in a disappointing loss at Headingley, where England beat them by 5 wickets . However, former India all-rounder Mohammad Kaif has praised Gill's leadership and went as far as to say that the India youngster led the team better than England captain Ben Stokes. Kaif blamed the loss on Indian bowlers, saying that Gill didn't receive any support from them apart from Jasprit Bumrah and a bit from Ravindra Jadeja. He said that Gill performed his captaincy duty well and used the team resources in the right manner. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Bumrah picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings but went wicketless in the second. India failed to defend a 371-run target in the final innings as bowled failed to take all 10 wickets. Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur took two wickets each, while Jadeja picked up one, but by then, the damage had already been inflicted by England's Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley. Kaif says Gill did better than Stokes Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif said, 'As a young captain, Gill did brilliantly by giving Bumrah 4-4 overs and rotating him well. He led better than Ben Stokes. Well done, thumbs up." 'Helpless captain because he was playing with one and a half bowlers. One is Bumrah, and the remaining half is Jadeja. There was no support from Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, or Shardul. You can't win the Test match with 1.5 bowlers. He did captaincy very well and looked good to me. He used his resources well,' he added. Meanwhile, Gill impressed with the bat, scoring a fine century (147) in the first innings. Kaif pointed that out as another major positive. 'I will praise him a lot because it was a big Test for him in this series. It was important for him to score in England. Everyone said he doesn't know how to play in England, [you] made him captain, but hasn't scored runs. But he passed the Test with the bat, scored a century, excellent batting. Apart from captaincy, he showed he can deliver with the bat,' he added. The second Test match is scheduled to begin on 2 July in Birmingham, and all eyes will be on Gill to see if he can inspire a comeback.
Indian Express
39 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Meet Aarit Kapil, nine-year-old from Delhi's Mayur Vihar, who almost beat Magnus Carlsen in an online blitz game
Magnus Carlsen's Indian tormentors keep getting younger and younger. Weeks after the five-time world champion lost to 19-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju at the Norway Chess tournament, Aarit Kapil, a nine-year-old boy from New Delhi's Mayur Vihar, almost pulled off a win over one of the greatest players in the sport's history before settling for a draw due to time trouble. The Standard V boy from Mayur Vihar's Somerville School — who started playing chess just four years ago — had a winning position in an online blitz game against the current world no.1 in the Early Titled Tuesday competition. The Titled Tuesday tournament is organised twice every Tuesday by and is only open to players with FIDE titles (like Grandmaster, International Master, Candidate Master etc.) This particular Early Titled Tuesday event had elite GMs like Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik competing. Aarit, a Candidate Master, was playing in the online event from his hotel room in Batumi, Georgia, where he is currently in the middle of playing an over-the-board FIDE World Cadets Cup (in the under-10 category). For the Delhi boy, the draw with Carlsen is another step in what is turning out to be a fast rise: last December, he became the third-youngest player in the world to defeat a grandmaster in classical time control when he took down 66-year-old Raset Ziatdinov of the United States. 'He was five years old when his elder sister Aarna taught him chess. In one week, he was beating us. Not like I am a serious player – I am the equivalent of a bathroom singer in the sport: a casual player. But we saw his potential, so we got him working with a coach. And in a few days, he won an international online tournament,' Aarit's father Vijay tells The Indian Express. Unlike other Indian players, Aarit does not play too many international events. The family is on the lookout for sponsors to help him take the next steps in the sport. He spends five to six hours on the sport daily and is currently coached by IM Vishal Sareen. Vijay and wife Nisha, who is in Batumi accompanying Aarit, were on a phone call on Tuesday when the boy came shouting 'draw kar diya, Carlsen ko draw kar diya' into the room. That's when the parents realised what their nine-year-old had done. It could have been even better. Until the 46th move, Aarit had a winning position against the Norwegian. But with his time running low, Aarit allowed Carlsen to salvage a draw on the 49th move, which was still commendable for his age and in a format where Carlsen is formidable. What was even more remarkable was that Carlsen was playing with white pieces and had held a better position out of the opening. In Titled Tuesday, each player gets three minutes on the clock at the start and gets an increment of one second per move made. Carlsen's prep for the game was such that he had used up just seven seconds on his clock for his first 14 moves. Despite the stature of the man playing against him, Aarit attacked from early on, throwing both bishops deep into Carlsen's territory, offering them up as trades. Aarit had one less pawn on the board after move 14. But by the 18th move, with some devil-may-care attacking chess, both of his knights were deep in Carlsen's territory threatening his king. By the 25th move, the Indian boy held an advantage on the board. But on the clock, he was down to just 31 seconds while Carlsen had a minute and 25 seconds. By the 29th move, when both queens were traded, Aarit held a significant advantage on the board. But his time was down to 16 seconds, a challenge under any circumstances, but even more so against a player like Carlsen who relishes piling pressure on opponents to see them crack before defeating them. In this case though, Carlsen was the one in trouble on the board, despite having more than a minute to work his way out of jail. By move 31, when Aarit's pawns on e and f files were primed to make a run to get promoted, with both of his rooks guarding them from behind, the engine showed that the Indian boy had a winning position. Aarit held this advantage till the 46th move, when he was down to just seven seconds on the clock. But he had made Carlsen think, leaving the latter with just 20 seconds himself. Eventually, both players agreed to a draw after 49 moves. It must be noted that Carlsen is currently on a vacation with wife Ella, but just how seriously he takes the Titled Tuesday event can be gauged by the fact that he ended third at the event, which featured 664 players. Vijay, who works as a mutual fund distributor in the national capital, is hoping that the draw and the headlines it creates will lead to more sponsors showing an interest in his son's career. 'Sometimes when he has a bad tournament, we jokingly tell him 'tera chess rukwadenge' (We'll stop your chess). He says, 'jo marzi karlo, chess nahi chhodunga' (Do whatever you can, I won't stop playing chess),' laughs Vijay. Ask Vijay what other interests the boy has and the father replies: 'Bas chess hi karta hai. Aur kuch nahi karta. (only chess, nothing else).' Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Rs 42.3 lakh disbursed as AICF rolls out player stipends for top chess talents in India
Chess pieces (Photo by) In a transformative move for Indian chess, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) has rolled out its Top National Players Stipend Scheme (TNPSS), disbursing over Rs 42 lakh in the first phase to the nation's top-performing youth players. The initiative, driven by AICF President Nitin Narang, is aimed at providing sustained financial support to India's brightest young chess minds from the grassroots level. The scheme delivers quarterly stipends ranging from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1,50,000 directly to 42 top-ranked players in the Under-7 to Under-19 categories (both boys and girls), based on their standout performances at last year's national championships. 'This is more than just a scheme,' said Narang. 'It shows how deeply we believe in the promise of every young chess player in Bharat.' This is the first time in Indian chess history that young players are being directly funded through a structured national stipend. The disbursed amount of Rs 42,30,000, covering the April–June 2025 quarter, is the first of many, as the scheme will continue over a two-year period with a projected outlay of over Rs 6.15 crore. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Prince William & Kate Met Princess Diana's Secret Daughter. Plays Star Undo Narang emphasised that TNPSS also aligns with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strengthen grassroots sports infrastructure and athlete support. 'For too long, financial constraints have cast a shadow over the aspirations of our chess players. The demands of travel, training, and international competition often forces players to abandon their passion, which is a profound loss for our nation. TNPSS is our definitive answer to these challenges, a bold stride towards a player-centric policy that empowers our youth to focus solely on honing their skills and conquering the chessboard,' he noted, adding that the scheme would also elevate the importance of national tournaments as a critical feeder system for future champions. Among the inaugural beneficiaries are standout names across age groups such as Devanarayanan Kalliyath (U7 Open), Aaranya R (U7 Girls), Ilamparthi A R (U15 Open), and Mrittika Mallick (U19 Girls). Players have been selected from categories spanning U7 to U19, with three each in boys and girls across all divisions. The inaugural beneficiaries of the Top National Players Stipend Scheme include: Under 7: Open: Devanarayanan Kalliyath, Prayank Gaonkar, Aaradhyo Guin Girls: Aaranya R, Arpitangshi Bhattacharya, Saiaastha Singh Under 9: Open: Nidhish Shyamal, Aarit Kapil, Divith Reddy Adulla Girls: Kiyanna Parihaar, Divi Bijesh, Vanshika Rawat Under 11: Open: Madhvendra Pratap Sharma, Advik Amit Agrawal, Aarav A Girls: Pratitee Bordoloi, Aadya Gowda, Divi Bijesh Under 13: Open: Reyan Md, Sherla Prathamesh, Pranav Sai Ram R S Girls: Saranya Devi Narahari, Nivedita V C, Nihira Koul Under 15: Open: Ilamparthi A R, Vaz Ethan, Sherla Prathamesh Girls: Prishita Gupta, Jain Ashita, Saparya Ghosh Under 17: Open: Sriram Adarsh Uppala, Arpith S Bijoy, Jaiveer Mahendru Girls: Tejaswini G, Kirthika B, Anupam M Sreekumar Under 19: Open: Adireddy Arjun, Sourath Biswas, Jaiveer Mahendru Girls: Mrittika Mallick, Velpula Sarayu, Sneha Halder Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
