'It’s better to...': Former India wicketkeeper batter sends strong message to Shubman Gill ahead of Sri Lanka Tests

Former India player Deep Dasgupta has expressed his opinion on the ongoing transition in India's Test team amid a number of senior players stepping away from the format has left a bunch of young players on their own to find their way. The former Indian wicketkeeper batter admitted that the red-ball side is going through a transition and asked the players to shift their focus away from next year's World Test Championship final and concentrate instead on making significant improvement in their performances.

Deep Dasgupta offers different approach

India's chances of reaching the WTC final remain slim after enduring a heavy home series loss to South Africa towards the end of 2025. Led by Shubman Gill, the side now faces a challenging run in the remainder of the 2025-27 cycle, starting with the tough away assignments in Sri Lanka and New Zealand before coming back home to lock horns against Australia in a five-Test series next year.

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“I want to see much more development. Are we improving? Yes, there is inexperience and it’s a transition, but it’s important to see the improvement. In fact, I am going to say something that people may not like, but for the time being, it’s better to forget about WTC Final Qualification," said Dasgupta on his official YouTube channel.

While continuing, Dasgupta asked the current Indian players to not focus on the constant improvements in their skillset and to extract better results from the games.

"It’s better not to talk about it. In my opinion, what we should instead focus on is how to make the Indian Test team like the one in 2020-21, like that phase where India were winning overseas and winning home series as well," added Dasgupta.

Big task for Shubman Gill

The upcoming tour of Sri Lanka could be a very challenging task for skipper Shubman Gill, as this Test series could decide India's fate in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC). As of now, the chances of India's qualification in the WTC final looks very weak, if the Shubman Gill-led side manages to beat Sri Lanka, then they would stay alive in the competition.

Here is team India's full schedule for Sri Lanka tour: