Shubman Gill has been appointed as India’s new Test captain. The newly-appointed captain will face his first hurdle in the forthcoming five-match series against England, which begins on June 20. Gill, who has previously captained in T20s and now leads popular team Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League, has compared the euphoria of winning an IPL season to winning a Test series in foreign conditions.
Gill had a press conference on the eve of the first Test, with members of the media throwing beamers at him before he faced a handful of them in the match. Gill, on the other hand, responded excellently to the queries, stating that in his perspective, winning an IPL cannot compare to winning an away series against some of the best teams in international cricket.
“Captain, may I ask you,if you imagine winning five test series in England and imagine winning the IPL, which one seems more magnificent to you?” A reporter questioned Gill.
“Definitely the test series, in my opinion. You know, as a captain, you don’t get many opportunities to come to England; if you’re the finest of your generation, you might get three. So, the IPL comes around every year, and you get a chance to participate. So, in my perspective, winning test series in England, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are more important,” Gill said.
Shubman Gill to bat at No. 4
Following the retirement of legendary batter Virat Kohli, Gill has confirmed that he will be the new No. 4 batter for the Indian team in the red-ball format going forward. He said that he arrived at this significant decision following a thoughtful conversation with head coach Gautam Gambhir. Meanwhile, star wicketkeeper-batter and Gill’s new deputy Rishabh Pant will be seen sticking to his original batting position of No. 5. The question around the batters at third and sixth position in the batting order remains a huge question, but it is not going to be long before the same is revealed.
India squad for 1st Test vs England: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK & VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, B Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, Dhurv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, and Harshit Rana