Shubman Gill’s era as India’s Test captain will officially begin on June 20 with the first Test against England in Leeds. Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has shared his thoughts on India’s decision to appoint Shubman Gill as the new Test captain. He also offered his insights on India’s top-order for the upcoming series against England and how the team might cope with the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, both of whom recently retired from Test cricket.
A new chapter in Indian cricket is set to begin as Shubman Gill leads the team in a five-match ICC World Test Championship (2025–27) series against England. Earlier this month, two of India’s all-time greats, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, announced their retirements from the longest format of the game.
Ponting said he wasn’t surprised that Shubman Gill was chosen over more experienced players like Rishabh Pant or Jasprit Bumrah, noting that the 25-year-old has what it takes to succeed as a Test captain.
“I actually think it’s the right move. I know there are a lot of people and experts wondering why Bumrah wasn’t chosen and why the role went to Shubman, but to me, it’s pretty straightforward.
Bumrah has been dealing with injuries over the last couple of years, and that’s not ideal for a captain. You can’t have a captain who’s in and out of the side due to fitness issues. So I think picking Shubman was the right decision,” Ponting said in a recent episode of ICC Review.
Ricky Ponting praised Shubman Gill’s captaincy, highlighting how he has managed the Gujarat Titans in the IPL.
Ponting said he really admired the way Gill led the Gujarat Titans during the recent IPL 2025 season. Under Gill’s leadership, the Titans stayed at the top of the points table for most of the tournament and successfully qualified for the playoffs.
“Now that they’ve made it, they need to stick with him and give him a good chance for a long period. Just looking at how he’s handled the current Gujarat Titans team throughout this IPL, leadership suits him very well.
The key for me with leadership, especially when you’re both a batter and a captain, is that you have to keep scoring runs. Shubman Gill has been doing exactly that in the IPL. I think the timing is perfect, and he’s going to be a great captain who will also score many runs in Test cricket going forward,” Ponting added.
