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India's young batter Shubman Gill has been appointed as Rohit Sharma's successor to lead India in Tests. The 25-year-old will start his Test captaincy from the upcoming five-Test match series against England, which is scheduled to start from June 20. Apart from Rohit, veteran India batter Virat Kohli has also announced his retirement from the longest format of the game. The absence of senior players will surely be a challenge for the young team, which will face England in a Test series.
However, Test legend Cheteshwar Pujara believes that leading a team requires a different level of focus, and Gill has the right mindset to handle it.
"I don’t think captaincy will affect Shubman Gill. I’d say it will definitely motivate him. But at the same time, it's a different role altogether when you're leading a team and when you're batting. It requires a different kind of concentration. Your batting doesn’t really change whether you’re a leader or not. But yes, he will be very motivated to perform well in overseas conditions," Pujara said as quoted by Quint.
Pujara also reckons that the role of Indian support staff will be crucial in England with a young leader. He suggested the support staff give him consistent feedback, the right data, and venue-specific inputs.
"The role of the Indian support staff will be crucial. With a young leader, the people around him — the coaches, analysts, the support system — they need to give him consistent feedback, the right data, and venue-specific inputs. The entire support system becomes very important when you have a young captain," Pujara added.
India squad for England series
Shubman Gill(C), Rishabh Pant(vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Parishdh Krishna, Akashdeep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
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