India's Gill keen to focus on batting not captaincy pressure ahead of England series
June 19 (Reuters) - Newly-appointed India test skipper Shubman Gill said he wants to concentrate on his batting rather than the pressure of captaincy as his side prepares to start a new era following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Kohli and Rohit, former captains and batting mainstays of the team, both quit tests weeks before the start of India's five-test series in England.
India named top-order batsman Gill as their new test captain in May, picking the 25-year-old over pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah to replace Rohit.
India have long recognised Gill's leadership qualities, previously naming him vice-captain in both white-ball formats, while he also had two seasons as skipper of Indian Premier League (IPL) side Gujarat Titans.
"Honestly, when I want to go out there and bat, I just want to play as a batsman, not really want to think that I'm the captain of the team because I think that sometimes puts too much pressure on you," Gill told reporters on Thursday.
"Whenever I'm going out there, I want to play as a batsman and want to dominate the opposition and be the best batsman in the series, and that's what I'm trying to look at."
Gill said captaining India to a series win over England would be bigger than triumphing in the IPL, which he won with Gujarat in 2022.
"Definitely the test series, in my opinion," he said.
"You don't get many opportunities as a captain to be able to come to England, maybe two; if you are the best of your generation, maybe three. And IPL comes every year, and you get to have a crack at it every year.
"So in my opinion, winning a test series in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa is bigger."
Gill, who has scored 1,893 runs in 32 test matches with an average of 35.05, will drop down one spot in the order to take Kohli's old position at number four.
"After Virat bhai (brother) retired, me and GG (coach Gautam Gambhir) bhai had a discussion about it, and we were both clear that he wanted me to bat at number four, and I was also clear that I also wanted to bat at that number," Gill said.
India play England in the opener at Headingley on Friday.
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