Courtesy: BCCI
Shubman Gill, the newly appointed captain of the Indian Test team, has a big task ahead of him in his first series as a leader, taking on England in a five-match Test series in their own den, starting on June 20. Ahead of the first Test at the Headingley in Leeds next week, the 25-year-old laid out his plans for his captaincy reign during an exclusive interview after replacing Rohit Sharma in the role last month with the latter announcing his sudden retirement from Test cricket.
While the Indian players are currently taking part in a four-day intra-squad match against India A at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham, which began on June 13, Sky Sports, one of the biggest sports channels in England, released the sit-down interview of Shubman Gill on their platform. One of the biggest points coming out of it was how he wants to give his teammates a “secure and happy” team culture.
The Punjab-born cricketer was quoted as saying, “It was not even in my dreams that I would be the captain of the Indian cricket team. So, apart from all the silverware and trophies aside, I really would like to build a team culture where everyone is very secure and happy. “I know it can be a difficult environment, especially with all the competition and the number of matches that we play and different squads coming in. But if I’m able to do that, I think that would be my goal,” he added.
“So, keeping a secure environment and making the player feel secure in his abilities and his capabilities, I feel, is one of the most important things that a leader has to do,” Shubman Gill added.
Shubman Gill takes inspiration from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's captaincy in Test cricket
At the same time, the new Indian Test captain hailed his predecessor Rohit Sharma for his work with the team over the years, which took them to the next level in the longest format of the game. He remarked, “The kind of environment Rohit bhai kept, even if he is swearing at you, you would not take it to your heart. That’s just kind of his personality. I think that’s a great trait to have. He’s firm, but even if he’s being hard on you, you know that it’s not coming from his heart. It’s coming from a team perspective.”
Shubman Gill also went on to appreciate Virat Kohli for his proactive leadership on the field, which is something he would like to inculcate in his stint as Indian Test captain. “When I played under Virat, I think his proactiveness in Test matches with the field or with the ideas or with his thinking was something that I liked and that I picked up. If he thinks that, okay, this plan is not working, he would immediately have another plan, communicate to the bowler what he wants from them,” he opined.
