Legendary Indian cricket team batter Sunil Gavaskar weighed in on Shubman Gill‘s appointment as the new Test captain. Gill will leading the national side during the five-match Test series against England with Rishabh Pant as his deputy. Gavaskar said that Gill will need to command the players’ respect and handle the pressure that comes with the appointment. Following Rohit’s retirement, Gill was chosen as his successor over the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul. Gavaskar added that captaincy changes the situation for a number of players and Gill will need to behave in a way which stamps his authority.
“There is always pressure on the player who gets elected as India’s captain as there is a big difference between being a member of the team and being the captain,” Gavaskar said as quoted by Sports Tak.
“Because when you are a team member, you generally just interact with players close to you, but when you become the captain, you should behave in a way that the other players in the team respect you and a captain’s behaviour is more important than his performance,” he added.
As Shubman Gill takes over the reins of India’s Test team ahead of the highly anticipated series against England, former cricketer Yograj Singh has praised the people behind the young captain’s journey, his father and India great Yuvraj Singh.
While speaking to ANI, Yograj Singh emphasized the impact of strong mentorship and family support in shaping Gill’s career.
“The credit for Shubman Gill’s performance goes to his father and Yuvraj Singh,” he said.
“If Shubman Gill has become the captain today and will stay for a long time, Yuvraj Singh’s guidance will play and has played an essential role in that,” he added.
Yograj, himself a former India international and father of Yuvraj Singh, highlighted how Yuvraj’s cricketing intelligence has helped Gill grow both as a player and a leader.
“Someone like Yuvraj Singh, the greatest cricketing brain in the world, taking Gill under his wing is a big thing,” he stated.
(With ANI inputs)
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