India vs England: Captain Gill silences doubters with coming-of-age performance

The India captain has ticked almost all boxes in emphatic fashion, indicating he’s one of those who can thrive personally in leadership roles.

Manchester: When Shubman Gill was announced as the new skipper of the Indian team for the England series, questions were instantly raised if the prince’s ascension to the throne was premature. He’s just 25 years old and his performances previously in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries weren’t encouraging. 

Shouldn’t he be given more time to find his feet while a senior like KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah or Rishabh Pant could have done some handholding?

Won’t the weight of captaining a transitional Indian team in a punishing place like England, where the visitors have won a Test series just thrice, weigh him down? Will the physical and emotional toil of leading in a gruelling five-match series affect his batting — he averaged 36.57 before this series — which is still a work in progress? Well, the soft-spoken but hard-nosed Gill has answered most of those questions in emphatic fashion, indicating he’s one of those who can thrive personally in leadership roles.

Firstly, the batting where Gill has smashed some long-standing records and is on course to obliterate a few more when he takes strike in the final Test at The Oval starting July 31. Prior to the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the Punjabi didn’t score a single century in SENA countries — he hasn’t played a Test yet in New Zealand. In fact, out of his five tons before landing here, all had come in the subcontinent — four in India and one in Bangladesh. Despite being hailed as the one to take forward the great Virat Kohli’s legacy, Gill has just two fifties with a best score of 91 in six Tests in Australia, which is ordinary by his standards.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the pressure was immense on his shoulders when he walked out to bat in the first Test in Leeds. He quelled all of that instantly though, scoring a superb 147 in the first innings, and he hasn’t looked back since, almost essaying Bradmanesque form that has elevated his status as the new star of the cricketing world. He entered elite company with an epochal 269 and 161 in the second Test in Birmingham before suffering a dip at Lord’s where he could only score 16 and 6. 

And when he could only muster 12 in the first innings of the fourth Test at Old Trafford where England exposed his weakness with the incoming ball, the questions regarding his technique in seaming conditions started to gain steam again. Great talents always silence the noise with their deeds on the field and Gill did so with a doughty 103 off 238 balls to play an important role in India pulling off one of the most incredible draws in the history of the sport. 

His performances in this series have had a touch of class, arrogance and defiance depending on the situation. At Headingley, he wanted to make a statement and he did so in the company of his deputy Pant as they tore apart the English attack. The same attacking verve was there at Edgbaston, but having promised to carry the team on his shoulders, he picked his moments to attack while dropping defence for the remaining part. At Old Trafford, it was pure defence as he focused on helping India save the game, walking out with India at 0/2 and trailing by a mammoth 311 runs.

On the captaincy front, Gill has done a decent job within his limitations. He hasn’t had a settled fast-bowling attack to choose from — they are most vital in places like England — with Bumrah made available only for three games and injuries to Akash Deep as well as all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. But he has managed them decently, although he has at times looked out of ideas when the bowlers have been under the pump. Some of the selection decisions, like his resistance to play the wicket-taking Kuldeep Yadav, in place of a batter has been labelled as defensive. But Gill has stood firm with the choices he has made.

He isn't as animated as Kohli or street-smart like MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. He’s extremely composed though, no matter what, but can step on the aggression when needed to, like at Lord’s. He’s even assertive and remorseful based on the situation. It’s just his maiden series as a captain, and there are a lot of learnings. The signs are promising though for the prince to have a good run as the new king. Fingers crossed!