'Bigger than IPL...': Shubman Gill gives BIG statement over winning Test series in England

India.com

9 hours ago

Shubman Gill (L) and IPL 2025 champions RCB (R). (PIC - X)
New Delhi: Just hours before the start of the Test series against England, Team India's young captain Shubman Gill has expressed his intentions. Gill, who is leading Team India in Test cricket for the first time and is going to directly face a tough challenge like England, said that he and his team have not come with any kind of burden. Along with expressing his desire to become the best batsman in this series, the Indian captain also made it clear that he is ready to sacrifice batting to win the Test.
The first match of the 5 Test match series will be played at Headingley Stadium in Leeds from Friday 20 June. A day before this match, on Thursday 19 June, captain Shubman Gill participated in a press conference. This was his first press conference before any series as a Test captain. However, before leaving for England, he had held a press conference in Mumbai with head coach Gautam Gambhir, but this was the first time he was talking to the media alone just before the series. During this, Gill emphasized on some special things.
Let's take a look at 5 such points- Shubman Gill said, 'You cannot win a Test match without taking 20 wickets. So if we have to go with pure bowlers, we have no problem.' That is, Gill made it clear that he is ready to sacrifice depth in batting to take 20 wickets. It is clear from this that if needed, he can choose a regular bowler instead of a batting all-rounder.
On the importance of the Test series, the captain said, 'Winning Test series in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) is much bigger than winning IPL. IPL comes every year and we get a chance every year but winning a Test series is above than that.'
On the number 3 batting position, Gill said, 'We will see the pitch once again and then decide on number-3. After Virat bhai's retirement, GG (Gautam Gambhir) and I talked and decided that I will play at number-4.'
Gill also said that he wants to prove himself as the best batsman of the series. He said, 'When I go out to bat, I would like to play only as a batsman and not think about captaincy because it can create pressure. I want to become the best batsman of this series.'
Regarding the experience of the team, Gill said, 'We will not look at the old results. Many people are saying that we are inexperienced but this means that we are not carrying any old burden (pressure of old results).'