Kane Williamson's Big Praise For Shubman Gill: 'I Always Thought Captaincy...'
New Zealand star Kane Williamson is impressed by how well Shubman Gill has taken over India's Test captaincy without letting it affect his primary skill, batting. Williamson, who worked with Gill at Gujarat Titans (GT), said he always thought leadership sat well with the Punjab batter, who is 'wise beyond his years'.
Gill took over the much-scrutinised job after Rohit Sharma called quits on his Test career in May. Under him, India are trailing 2-1 against England in the five-Test Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, but the losses have been closely-fought and the right-hander has been consistent with the bat, scoring a chart-topping 607 runs.
'He's responded beautifully, hasn't he?" Williamson told The Times of India. 'I always thought captaincy sits well with Shubman. I know happening in a franchise space is slightly different, you know it's a shorter sort of project versus captain in your country, which… is a lot more consuming. Whilst you're in that role, you're never out of it. It's a much larger role sort of on and off the field," he added.
'Watching Shubman operate… he's wise beyond his years and you know that responsibility is naturally something that he would look to take on. So hearing him get that opportunity was no surprise to me but you know the quality of the player is something that goes without saying. He's absolutely world-class. And all the other formats throughout… the IPL for a number of years and one day cricket I think he's top of the tree there. Test cricket really [was] a matter of time. To see him come over here and conditions that can be challenging with the Dukes from time to time, and dominate like he has, it's been amazing," Williamson said.
Gill was chosen as the captain ahead of seniors like KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah (who has workload concerns) and Rishabh Pant. Although India's bad historic record in England keeps the expectations on his job slightly low, he has big shoes to fill to inspire the team in the absence of Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Williamson on Gill: 'Valuable lessons lie ahead'
Williamson ended his praise with a note of caution, saying that 'it's still early days' for Gill and now, for him, it'll be about managing his batting, captaincy and finding a balance between his values and those of head coach, Gautam Gambhir.
'The cricketer Shubman and the leadership qualities that he has… if he separates those then there is real quality in both departments and actually starting sort of embedding the things that you value, along with the head coach. Forming that really strong bond… it's really important and I think that's what we're seeing in these early stages. There are going to be really valuable lessons for him and we're looking towards the leader that he will become but it's still early days," Williamson said.
India and England will play the third Test from July 23 at Old Trafford, Manchester.
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July 19, 2025, 15:21 IST
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