NEW DELHI: England registered a five-wicket win over India in the opening Test of the five-match series at Headingley, successfully chasing a challenging target of 371 on Tuesday. Ben Duckett led the charge with a brilliant 149, sealing a memorable victory for the hosts. For India, the match marked a tough beginning to Shubman Gill’s tenure as Test captain, despite the team producing five individual centuries. The result drew sharp scrutiny from former captains Nasser Hussain and Ravi Shastri, who expressed concerns over Gill’s on-field leadership and tactical decisions.Former England captain Nasser Hussain compared Gill’s presence and authority to his predecessors.
“I thought I saw someone just finding his way, honestly. You’ve got to be very careful in the first Test match, the people he’s taken over from, Kohli, and then Rohit Sharma. I thought he didn’t quite have that on-field aura as the names I mentioned there. You look down on those two previous names, and you immediately see who was in charge of India,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.Hussain also pointed out that Gill appeared to be sharing responsibilities with multiple senior players, which can sometimes happen when a new leader is still finding his feet.
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What did you think about Shubman Gill’s performance as captain in the first Test against England?
“I looked down from the press box, the commentary position, there were a lot of captains; it was a bit captaincy by committee, which can happen in your early days as a leader because you’re still senior players like Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul want to try and help you out as much as possible. I thought he followed the ball a lot. I thought he was reactive as opposed to proactive,” he said.He also questioned India’s bowling tactics during the match — particularly the use of Ravindra Jadeja — and suggested Gill could have been more assertive in guiding his senior spinner.“A word with Jadeja, maybe as a young captain, to go to such an experienced spinner, and go, you do know the rough is out there. Ravi Shastri and Mark Butcher are up there, going, show us where that ball is pitching, and it was pitching nowhere near the rough,” Hussain explained.Hussain wrapped up his assessment with a comment on the final result and the lack of on-field communication around key bowling strategies.“Ravi was saying, a bit slow, a bit wide, bowl in the rough. I was surprised that not one of the senior players or captains went to Jadeja and said, Can we go a little bit wider. But Ravi’s right, they lost the game for two things that he couldn’t control,” he added.As India look ahead to the second Test, questions are already being raised about Gill’s tactical instincts and whether he can grow into the leadership role as the series progresses.
