Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes that this is a golden chance for India Test captain to become a hero in the upcoming series against England. He advised Gill to call Ajinkya Rahane and have a chat with him before travelling to the UK to lead India for the first time in the longest format of the game.
Kaif shared a video on his 'X' formerly known as Twitter where he compared Gill with veteran batter Rahane when he led India in Australia. Rahane-led India defeated Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the absence of Virat Kohli.'
“I think this is a chance for Gill to become a hero. He is getting an opportunity to lead a young team in England, and in such cases sometimes the expectations are a bit low. That is something that Gill can use to his benefit, because when Rahane was leading India in Australia, before the Gabba Test everyone had said that it is a very young team,” Kaif said.
“But, Rahane’s young team defeated Australia in Australia. So, Gill should probably call Rahane and have a chat, because Rahane had done some brilliant work in that tour with a young side. Gill has to do something like that as well,” he added.
The five-Test match series between India and England is scheduled to start from June 20 and this will be the first red-ball assignment for the Men in Blue after 3-1 defeat in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
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