India head coach Gautam Gambhir recalled his conversation with Shubman Gill while appointing him as Rohit Sharma's sucessor as India's Test captain. Gill was appointed as India's Test captain after Rohit announced a sudden retirement from the longest format of the game in May ahead of the five-Test match series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 against England.
Gambhir's conversation with Shubman Gill
Gambhir revealed that he told Gill that the management had thrown him into the deep sea so he would either drown or become the best swimmer. Notably, Gill was the highest run-getter in his first Test assignment as a captain; the star batter smashed 754 runs in five Tests, including four hundreds with a highest score of 269 runs.
"I will remember the conversation with Gill. Picking a 25-year-old kid as the captain, I told him we have thrown you into the deep sea. I said you will either drown or become the best swimmer," Gautam Gambhir told Star Sports.
Gambhir lauds Shubman Gill's captaincy
Gambhir lauded Gill's way of captaincy and how he handled pressure against England. He reckons that Gill has passed his most difficult Test in the England Test series, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
"How a 25-year-old kid handled the team, captaincy and pressure against an England side was the most difficult test over a span of two months. The way how intimidating England’s batting was and our inexperience, he has passed his most difficult test. The transition is over and things will become much easier for him. The criticism that some people have said on him is unfair. You pick players on potential. If you expect an individual to have 50+ everywhere, it takes time to achieve that" Gambhir added.
Gill rewarded with ODI captaincy ahead of Australia series
After the team's dominating performance in Tests, Gill has been rewarded with the ODI captaincy ahead of the white ball series against Australia. India are scheduled to play a three-match ODI series followed by a five-match T20I series against Australia, where Gill will be seen leading Team India featuring Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in ODIs. He will be Suryakumar Yadav's deputy in T20Is.