India tour of England: Off to England with hopes high
CHENNAI: "Overwhelming" is how Shubman Gill described when he first got to know about the possibility of becoming India's Test captain. It is understandable considering about 12 months ago Gill was almost dropped from the Test team. He was, in fact, left out of the playing XI for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last year.
Indian cricket has hit the fast forward button since the 3-1 drubbing they received Down Under, conceding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. R Ashwin retired mid-tour, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have called it a day in the longest format and Gill is the new India men's Test captain. On Thursday, he was at the BCCI headquarters, alongside head coach Gautam Gambhir addressing the media before leaving for England for the five-Test series.
As Gill walks out onto the field in Leeds with the India blazer on for the first Test on June 20, he will not just be a young captain leading a side, but also a team with a very inexperienced batting line-up. They have not yet nailed down the batting order as yet. It will be done after the intra-squad game and ten-day camp before the first game. Among the top five who are expected to play, only KL Rahul has played more than 50 Tests (58). Gill, himself, has played only 32 behind Rishabh Pant (43). In fact, the most experienced batter in the squad would be Ravindra Jadeja (80).
Gill, and Gambhir, remain positive with the 18-member team they are taking to England. "I think pressure is there in every tour to win as a team. Definitely, two experienced players who have played in our team for such a long time and won so many matches, it is difficult to fill their space, but as such, there is no different pressure. I think the batting combination and bowling combination with which we are going, the team has a very good mix of experience and talent," Gill said.
"It is a five-Test series in England. Everyone is excited. It is another opportunity to do something special for the country. For me, the most exciting thing is that we have got really quality players in the squad who are really willing to go out there and express themselves and do something special," Gambhir added.
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