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Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that the 18-member India squad named for the upcoming Test assignment against England is well-selected, however he also feels that that making Shubman Gill the new skipper is a 'bold' move on chief selector Ajit Agarkar's part as the 25-year-old doesn't have a lot of experience in the role.
Agarkar named India's squad for the England series on Saturday, May 24 and as expected many changes were made to the team. Not only was Gill made the captain, but Rishabh Pant was made his deputy and both Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh were handed their maiden Test call-ups.
'It is a great team and it has been selected while keeping in mind that this is the beginning of a new World Test Championship cycle so you would want these players to play for the next two or more years. This is also a bold move because Shubman Gill doesn't have much experience as captain, but there are many other experienced players in the side like Jasprit Bumrah, Karun Nair and Rishabh Pant so it indeed is a very well-selected team," Gavaskar told Sports Tak in an exclusive interview.
When asked if the leadership position will pout additional pressure on Gill, Gavaskar stated that whoever gets appointed as India's captain has to handle pressure, adding that a captain's behaviour is more important than his performance on the field.
"There is always pressure on the player who gets elected as India's captain as there is a big difference between being a member in the team and being the captain. Because when you are a team member, you generally just interect with players close to you, but when you become the captain you should behave in a way that the other players in the team respect you and a captain's behavior is more important than his performance," Gavaskar stated.
The India legend also believes that Gill should bat at the third position in the batting order in the England series and should be followed by Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan. He also opposed the idea of dropping the newly-appointed Test captain to the fourth position and he can provide stability while batting at No.3 if the Men in Blue lose early wickets.
'Gill should bat at No.3 followed by Karun Nair at No.4 and Sai Sudharsan at No.5. I don't think there is any reason for Gill to drop to the fourth spot in the batting order as he already has experience as an opener and would prove to be effective while batting at the third spot if India end up losing wickets early," Gavaskar added.
Finally, Gavaskar was also asked if India can win the five-match series against England with the recently announced squad, to which he answered that the bowling department will have to perform well in the first 1-2 matches and can carry the Men in Blue to victory.
"The bowling department can take India to victory as the batting may struggle in the first 1-2 matches. Once the weather in England goes from cold to warm, the batters will find their grip, however the bowlers will have to step up in the first few games of the series," Gavaskar further said.
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