Show of Mancunian grit could be making of India captain Gill

BBC News

28-07-2025

India's cricketers began last week at Manchester United's training ground.Red Devils manager Ruben Amorim could have done without a grilling from spinner Kuldeep Yadav about his continued use of 3-4-3.But he will be wishing his squad could show the same grit and determination India did during their trip to the north west, as their epic rearguard action in the fourth Test prevented England taking a decisive 3-1 lead in the series. They are proud of their entertainers on the red side of Manchester.The Holy Trinity. Sir Alex's flying wingers. The one they still call King Eric. India's performance was a tribute to one of this area's other favourite sons, Lord Atherton of Stoic Defiance.
This Test came four years after India's previous visit to Old Trafford.On that occasion India pulled out of the fifth Test after a positive Covid-19 result and flew home with the series there to be won, given their 2-1 lead.Shubman Gill was playing in his first Test against England in England when the hosts swept to victory in the rearranged match in Birmingham the following summer.Now captain, Gill ensured that if England are to get the result they want from this summer's contest they will have sacrificed an inch from their height in doing so.Without Gill's 103 runs scored across 24 hours, England's bowlers would have celebrated victory on Saturday afternoon and spent Sunday on the golf course.Walking out at 0-2 after only five deliveries, following a draining 157.1 overs as leader in the field, his head must surely have been spinning.
In the first innings he was out for 12 shouldering arms, seemingly having played all of his shots in the pre-match news conference a day earlier by suggesting England had broken the spirit of cricket.By Friday there murmurings of discontent in the India camp - questions of whether it was Gill or coach Gautam Gambhir calling the shots.That night bowling coach Morne Morkel took blow after blow in a news conference. 'Why was player A picked? Why did player B not bowl?' an unrelenting press contingent asked.That only made the resistance of Gill across the weekend, a 25-year-old a month into a gruelling first tour as captain, even more remarkable.He has spoken a lot this summer about wanting to wear his 'batter cap' when doing the day job. He has wanted to leave his metaphorical captaincy equivalent in his kitbag until he comes to field. In this knock he had to wear both to show the dressing room - one without the experience of three legends in Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Rohit Sharma, who all retired within the space of six months over the winter - the way forward was to fight.
Gill now has 722 runs in this series with four centuries.Only Graeme and Steve Smith, of South Africa and Australia, have scored more than 700 runs in a series against England in the UK this century.Protea Smith was another young captain when he dominated the summer of 2003. His run-haul set him on the way to being one of the great leaders of the modern era, but he already looked a grizzled leader when taking the reins at 22. Gill, in contrast, is softly spoken.Where his first captain Kohli held court with an aura the size of his social media following, Gill answers questions with a disarming smile.Still, when India needed their captain to front up this week - with the bat and when Ben Stokes offered his hand for the draw with 15 overs to go - Gill did so, just as Kohli would have before.It would have been easy for Gill to accept Stokes' offer when England's captain looked to the dressing room. Worse would have been to shrug and put the pressure on to inexperienced team-mate Washington Sundar, who stood 20 runs short of a maiden Test century.Gill held firm - a stern look before his smile returned soon after. This was typical Gill and those in the ranks remember when their leaders front the resistance.This is not to say Gill has been perfect in his first four matches in charge.Not bowling Sundar until the 69th over of England's first innings was a clear tactical mistake. There have been strange selections too.In a country of 1.4bn, medium pacer Anshul Kamboj cannot be the best option to take the new ball in England, while the series finale begins on Thursday with Kuldeep, the best spinner on either side, yet to make an appearance.This is where he needs Gambhir's assistance.The former India opener is Gill's antithesis. Combative and scowling, a news conference after a semi-final win in the Champions Trophy in March became a 20-minute argument. Another after the first Test at Headingley was similar. Gambhir could be The Spiky One.Captain and coach do not have to come from the same pod, a la Stokes and Brendon McCullum. Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott failed at the head of England's white-ball team because they were both playing the good cop.But if Gambhir is willing and able to plug the gaps, Gill has shown he has both the personality and batting prowess to take this side forward.Kohli's aggressive approach gave this generation an edge and athleticism that remains long after he has gone. With his softer nature, and the ability to light a fire when needed, Gill can be the ideal captain for this latest generation.The words United's iconic former manager Sir Alex Ferguson once (almost) said half a mile up Sir Matt Busby Way now apply to India."Your job is to stand by your new captain."This week in Manchester could be the making of India's new skipper.