Shubman Gill's captaincy criticism shut down in brutal fashion, 'transition' highlighted: 'He doesn't have Virat, Rohit'

Hindustan Times

17 hours ago

Following India's loss against England in the Headingley Test, where India let the hosts chase down 371, several cricket pundits criticised Shubman Gill's captaincy. Former England captain Nasser Hussain also pointed out how the likes of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were moving the field around and that there were too many captains on the field. Irfan Pathan reckons Shubman Gill needs to be given time to find his footing as the captain of the Test team. (AFP)
Shubman Gill was named India's Test captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement from Test cricket. The 25-year-old is leading the team in a transition phase, which involves losing three of its most senior pros: Rohit, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
To make matters worse for Gill, Jasprit Bumrah will play just three Tests in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, while Mohammed Shami is not in the squad. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are leaking runs at a brisk pace.
In the series opener against England, India faced two lower-order collapses, while the fielding effort was abysmal to say the least. India dropped at least six to seven catches, with Yashasvi Jaiswal himself putting down four chances.
Former India pacer Irfan Pathan reckons Shubman Gill needs to be given time to find his footing as the captain of the Test team. He is leading the team through a transition phase, and it is never easy to take charge when a few senior players leave the team.
"There are a lot of talks about his captaincy and the bowling changes and everything. I think we need to give him time. Most importantly, first of all, he is a new captain. And he is captaining the side which is in a transition period. If you look at it, he doesn't have the services of Mohammed Shami, he doesn't have the services of Ravichandran Ashwin, he doesn't have the services of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as far as the dressing room is concerned," said Pathan during a select media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network.
"Bumrah is not going to play all the matches. So, his hands are tied. So, that's one thing. He is leading the side for the first time in the toughest tour of England. It's a tough one. Not many sides go to England, let alone India. And they do really, really well. It's a tough tour to actually captain the side for the first time. So, there are a lot of mistakes which happen during those 5-day matches," he added.
Heading into the series against England, Shubman Gill, while speaking to Dinesh Karthik for Sky Sports, stated that he has no pressure from head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar as they have given him full freedom.
Gill started the series with a bang as he scored a century in his very first innings as a batter. However, he has tougher challenges ahead as the leader of the side.
Also Read: Shubman Gill breaks silence on whether Jasprit Bumrah will play 2nd Test vs England
"A lot of people talked about his authority. Authority will come with time. The good thing is he scored 100, which will make him comfortable as far as his form is concerned.
Once his form is certain, then he is able to make tough decisions," said Pathan. Pathan cites example of Ravindra Jadeja
To make a strong case for his argument, Irfan Pathan also cited the example of Ravindra Jadeja not utilising the rough created in the arc of Ben Duckett in the second innings of the Headingley Test. The left-handed Duckett smashed 149 runs in the second innings, and the biggest highlight of his knock was how he kept reverse sweeping Jadeja for boundaries.
"I will give you an example like Ravindra Jadeja. There was a rough against Ben Duckett. But Ravindra Jadeja started from around the wicket. Now, as a senior bowler and as a young captain, you will allow that. Ideally, on the 5th day, when the rough is there outside the off stump, you need to come over the wicket to use that rough. But by the time he scored two reverse sweeps, which made Duckett comfortable, he came over the wicket. So, the ball started spinning a lot more and had a bounce as well," said Pathan.
"With time, there will be a time with authority, and we need to give him time. If we don't give him time, and if we expect that he will perform straight away. There are a lot of leaders in the past who have done well. Eventually, they took time as well. So, if we give Shubman Gill time, he will settle into the role nicely. And he will be able to be more authoritative with time and performances," he added.
Pathan then rounded off the conversation by saying Gill is just one Test old when it comes to captaincy, and he needs to be given time to properly utilise the resources.
"He is just 1 Test old as captain. If you had asked me the question after one year of his leadership, I would have said, Okay, this is where he needs to go right. But it's too early right now. He needs to be given proper time," said Pathan.
Watch 2nd Test Between India & England on July 2nd, 3:30 PM onwards LIVE On Sony Sports Ten 1 & Sony Sports Ten 5 channels.