The decision to appoint Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s captaincy successor drew criticism, with many questioning his spot in the Test playing XI.
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Shubman Gill Named Indian Test Captain Amid Criticism
Last week, the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar appointed Shubman Gill as the new Indian Test captain, with Rishabh Pant named vice-captain. They will assume their roles during India’s upcoming five-match Test series in England starting June 20. However, the decision to replace Rohit Sharma with Gill as captain drew criticism, as many questioned Gill’s spot in the playing XI.
Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary told Cricbuzz that selectors chose Gill as a second-best option, especially amid uncertainty around Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness. Bumrah had captained India twice earlier this year during the Australia tour, including the Perth opener win in Rohit’s absence.
“He was the second-best option. But how can someone who doesn’t even fit in the Playing XI be made captain? So I feel the logic here was that they looked at who the second-best option was, and that was Gill, and that is how it happened,” Tiwary said.
‘Pant could be made captain in the future’
“For a series, Bumrah is okay. But as a long-term option, you need to ask if India play 10 Tests in a year, will he be able to play all those matches? Or, how many matches can he play? That is a major factor in picking a captain. So that I feel was the right decision, because they felt they could not put that pressure and load on Bumrah. Tiwary said Gill is the second-best, but I feel that is Rishabh Pant, and Gill is the third-best,” Sehwag said.
Sehwag praised Pant’s impact on Test cricket, noting that apart from Virat Kohli, Pant is the only player who has drawn modern fans to the format. He sees Pant’s vice-captaincy as a stepping stone toward future captaincy if he maintains his form.
“What Pant did for Test cricket, no other player has done. After Virat Kohli, if there is one player who has compelled fans into watching Test cricket, it’s Pant. But because he had that accident, got injured and then came back, he did not have that much of an impact, and hence he was made the vice-captain, thinking that if he can bounce back to form, they can take that decision of making him the captain in the future. But there are very few bowlers who are made the captain. In my career, it was just Anil Kumble, who loved the format, was available and was a certainty in the XI.”
