Shubman Gill: The 'Prince' of Indian cricket is ready to take charge in whites
Shubman Gill: From an U19 wonder kid to leading India
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When the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI ) named Shubman Gill as India's new Test captain for the upcoming five-match series against England, it was a clear signal of the beginning of a new era.At just 25, Gill, often called the 'Price' of Indian cricket, is stepping into big shoes during a transition phase for the team.His rise to captaincy comes as India bids goodbye to senior players like Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin.On the field, Gill's numbers speak for themselves. Since his Test debut against Australia in 2020, he has scored nearly 1,900 runs with five centuries. He also leads the Gujarat Titans in the IPL and holds the top spot as India's number one ODI batter. His calm, focused style and solid technique make him a natural leader.The batter made headlines during the 2017-18 U19 World Cup, when he top scored for India with 372 runs at an average of 112. He also slammed a match-winning century against Pakistan in the semi-final. Gill was the vice-captain of the team that went on to lift the cup.He grew from strength to strength from that point and in 2020, made his inevitable Test debut in the big Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. He opened the innings and made 45 and an unbeaten 35 as India beat Australia by eight wickets. He went on to play a crucial role in the final Test of the series, scoring 93 runs to help India chase 328 runs on the final day and clinch a historic win.With consistent performances, especially in the ODI format, Gill has been touted to carry Indian batting after Kohli, who had himself followed the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar.Gill's ability to play a wide variety of strokes and dominate bowling lineups has never been in question. He has also displayed great leadership qualities with Gujarat Titans so far, which played a role in his elevation to the Test captaincy to succeed Rohit.Gill played a captain's knock of 93 this week to secure a place in the playoffs for Gujarat, who were IPL champions in their 2022 debut season."I have talked about this a couple of times, when I'm batting, I want to play and think as a batsman, not as a captain. At the back end last season I learnt that," said Gill, who is leading GT for the second season.Gill now steps into the big shoes. Rohit Sharma won 12 of his 24 Tests as skipper and his predecessor Kohli was India's most successful Test captain with 40 wins from 68 matches in charge.India legend Sunil Gavaskar had already identified Gill's leadership credentials and competitive instinct ahead of his appointment."It would take a couple of years to get to the level of our 'super captains'," said Gavaskar."Gill seems the most competitive. When there's a close call, he's quick to question the umpire. He's very involved in the game."With a strong technique and ability to hit the big shots, Gill scored a Twenty20 hundred to become the fifth Indian batsman to record centuries across all three formats in 2023.The Indian captain has played 32 Tests, scoring 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05 with five hundreds. Not the best of the numbers for someone of his caliber with question marks over his record outside India. In his 13 overseas Tests, Gill's average is only 29.50. However, the load of captaincy does not seem to take over Gill's batting at least in the IPL.
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