Sometimes the true contribution of a captain may not necessarily come from either a bat or a ball, but from the cornerstone of the very quality for which he has been made the Captain and that’s leadership. With scores like 16 off 28 deliveries and 8 off 20, it didn’t seem as though Shubman Gill had a huge role to play for his Team India in the recently contested test match at Galle. Forget not, however, that in taking that blinder of a catch of Keshara Nuwantha in Sri Lanka’s first inning, the Indian captain affected an important dismissal in the Lankan lower order that’s known to wag its tail more often than not.
But purely from a leadership perspective, the young Punjab born captain of India was able to impact the outcome of the game by leading the side wisely on the ground.
He’s become, without taking much time to settle in such a crucial role, a thinking captain who’s not afraid to try bolder and more imposing options when trying to bring the opposition to crumble or in a position that helps India’s cause.
You can see that the experienced statesmen of the side such as KL Rahul and Siraj, two talents with great exposure already in the test side, are comfortable around Shubman Gill’s leadership. The blazing right hander is also someone who realises the vital importance of the youth in the Indian side and shoulders full support, whether that’s for someone like Jaiswal or the rising Manav Suthar.
And that bold, thinking and supportive imprint of Shubman Gill’s captaincy was rightly witnessed by former Indian test match specialist- Ajinkya Rahane who’s himself had the honour of leading the Indian team on important test assignments, one of which culminated in an important victory at the 2021 Gabba test victory.
Here’s what the famous right hander from Maharashtra had to note about Gill:
“What we saw of Shubman Gill as a captain in England and here, he led extremely well. He looked very proactive. The bowling changes were excellent. The field placements were excellent".
