Before India went into the first Test against England at Headingley, Shubman Gill said, “I see myself as a batter first. My first aim is to become the highest run-scorer of the series.” Very clear in his thought process, Gill walked the talk. He became the fifth Indian to score a century on India captaincy debut. With runs on the board, one felt the young man’s initiation into leading the troops would be a smooth one. But over the course of the next four days, things didn’t exactly pan out the way it should have and India are now 0-1 down in the series. While the burden of captaincy didn’t affect Shubman the batter, it’s clear that in the field, his leadership skills are still a work in progress. It’s still early days but there’s no doubt leadership in England is going to be a steep learning curve for the 25-year old, who is the fifth youngest India cricketer to become Test captain. It’s not easy when the opposition batting lineup is as strong as England’s and the pitches are not exactly bowler friendly. If this was a subcontinental dust bowl, Gill might have found things a little easier, but the first Test in Leeds suggested this tour is going to be a baptism by fire for him. “These are tough places to lead and it is like pushing someone into the deep sea. He batted phenomenally well in the first innings and will learn on the job as he goes on, coach Gautam Gambhir said. While the coach has every reason to throw his weight behind Gill, there were a few raised eyebrows with the way he used allrounder Shardul Thakur. In the first innings, when England batted for 101 overs, Shardul, playing as a bowling allrounder, was given only six overs, that too after coming in pretty late. It left an impression that Shubman lacks confidence in Shardul, not necessarily a positive sign.
Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, on his Youtube channel, said that to get the best of out of Shardul, it was important that he came in to bowl within the first 40 overs. “Shardul is a good cricketer and he has a decent match-up with Joe Root. When you’re playing in England, the ball sometimes stops doing anything after the first 40 overs. If Shardul is playing, he should be bowling more during that phase,” Ashwin said.
Gill’s body language in the field had an air of assurance about it. He didn’t look too overawed by the situation, which showed that his leadership stint with Gujarat Titans in the IPL had helped. He doesn’t exactly have the inyour-face aggression of a Virat Kohli, nor does his face betray emotions, as it used to be the case with Rohit Sharma. In many ways, Gill is his own man, and even when things were getting tight on Day 5, he didn’t lose his smile and didn’t allow the shoulders to droop. But there could be a little bit of criticism about his field placements on the fifth morning, when India needed to be aggressive to take wickets. The staggered slip cordon very early on was a clear indication that he was going on the defensive, which probably gave a little bit of mental edge to the England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley.
There were a few edges off Duckett’s bat that went in the gaps behind the wicket, something that could have been avoided. In the latter half of the first innings too, when Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse were making merry, Gill delayed the re-introduction of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, which cost India about 50 runs. That stretch of play showed a little bit of immaturity in Gill’s captaincy, but then it can’t be forgotten that the skipper can’t run Bumrah to the ground. It is not easy for a captain when the bowling isn’t exactly firing and there is a fitness issue with the only X-factor bowler in the XI. In a situation like this, Gill the captain has to take some bold decisions going forward, which might start with the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI. Tiger Pataudi, way back in 1967 in England, decided to play four spinners in the playing XI — a decision that subsequently made India a very difficult team to beat at home. In 2018, it was Virat Kohli’s turn to play with four pacers, another call that helped the team rule red-ball cricket for a brief phase. In a crunch situation, such radical calls become a necessity and it’s to be seen if captain Gill is bold enough to cut down on the batting line-up and go with five genuine bowlers in the second Test starting on July 2. It can lead to either bouquets or brickbats, but then that’s part and parcel of the most coveted job in Indian sport.
