Shubman Gill performed brilliantly both as captain and batter in the recently-concluded five-match Test series against England. In his very first Test assignment as the Men in Blue's captain, the 25-year-old finished as the top run-getter of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with 754 runs from just 10 innings. His leadership skills were also commendable as his side ended up drawing the five-match series at 2-2 with a thrilling 6-run victory in the final Test.
Based on his highly impressive performance against England, former India selector Devang Gandhi feels that Gill can go on to suceed Suryakumar Yadav as the Men in Blue's T20I captain in the coming future. Even though the batter hasn't played in the format since the series against Sri Lanka in July 2024, Gandhi believes that Gill has already formed an 'aura' like Virat Kohli and can be given the leadership role in T20Is as well.
Gandhi wants BCCI to end split-captaincy
He also pointed out that split-captaincy hasn't worked for the Indian team in the long run and told BCCI to take a clear call on Suryakumar's future with the side.
"Gill has built an aura similar to what Virat had in 2017. Virat was groomed under MS Dhoni. Gill is also at his peak, like Virat was. He, too, has reacted to captaincy as well as Virat did. Ajit Agarkar has shown great foresight by appointing Gill as Test captain. There’s no reason why Gill shouldn’t be in a leadership role in T20. The messaging has to be clear about who takes over after Surya,” Gandhi told The Times of India.
“Unlike other countries, split captaincy doesn’t work in India in the long run because you crave stability in the thought process. When you have a prolific all-format player leading in one format, it becomes difficult to not hand him the same responsibility in the other format. Gill has ticked all the boxes as a batter. And he has led in IPL,” he added.
Meanwhile, India next T20I assignment will be Asia Cup 2025 which will be held in the UAE and is set to commence from September 9. The tournament will go on till September 28 with the final set to take place at the Dubai International stadium.
The Indian team is present in Group A alongside Pakistan, UAE and Oman. The Men in Blue will be beginning their campaign with the clash against UAE on September 10 before facing-off against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14. They will wrap up their group stage with the match against Oman on September 19. It remains to be seen if Suryakaumar Yadav & Co. will manage to go all the way and win their second major T20I trophy in as many years.