India vs England: Shubman Gill’s 1st day in office as India’s Test captain started on a historic note as the 25-year-old slammed his sixth Test ton in style. Shubman Gill’s 1st day in office as India’s Test captain started on a historic note as the 25-year-old slammed his sixth Test ton in style against England on Day 1 of the first test at Headingley.
When Rohit Sharma retired, Gill was picked for the captaincy. If ever there were doubts (with a dismal record overseas as a batter), Gill set all of those to rest dispatching his second Test century away from India. Gill is the fourth youngest at 25 years and 285 days behind Herbie Taylor, Alastair Cook and Steven Smith to score a hundred in his first game as captain.
He is the 23rd player to century in his first innings as captain. He is the fourth Indian after Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli to do so. Former cricketer Yograj Singh, meanwhile, feels India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill must lead by example and must drive the team along with him, like Kapil Dev had done during the 1983 World Cup, in his first mission against England that commences on Friday at Headingley.
In Yograj’s view, Gill will have to make his personal scoring mark very high and drag the team along with him. He also abandoned the series forecast and opines that India can beat England and emerge triumphant on the rivals’ ground for the first time since 2007.
“A few days back, I was conversing with Yuvraj Singh about Abhishek (Sharma) and Shubman Gill. Yuvraj told me he would have to lead from the front. As Shubman Gill goes to bat, he has to remain at the crease for the longest duration.
When a captain leads from the front, and runs score. Shubman must set a target of 100, 200 or 300. He has to lead from the front. He also has to take all along together, like Kapil Dev did in the 1983 World Cup. I believe India will win the series,” Yograj said to ANI.
India is set to welcome a new age in the Test format without its batting pillars, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who recently retired from the format. India has added some fresh blood and a new skill set to cover the void left by the exit of the two veterans.
Other than the batting stalwarts, India would also be losing off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and the array of variations that he brought. Ashwin danced for the last time in Australia and declared his retirement during the mid-point of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
