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Anil Kumble to Ajit Agarkar – Gill first needs to establish as a batter: 'He didn't even play all 5 Tests in Australia'
Shubman Gill's numbers away from home cut a poor figure, something Anil Kumble is worried about now that the batter is India's new Test captain.
Anil Kumble has expressed certain apprehensions about Shubman Gill's appointment as India's Test captain. He feels the youngster has a big task ahead of himself because he has yet to cement himself as a batter in India's Test team overseas. Gill has played all 32 Tests for India, and while he may be the second-youngest captain after Sachin Tendulkar to be named India's Test captain, the 25-year-old is the least experienced.
Kumble's take is crystal clear. He was hoping Jasprit Bumrah would succeed Rohit Sharma as India's Test captain. More so because, for the longest time, that was supposed to be the case. Bumrah was India's vice-captain for the Test series in Australia and even led in Perth and Sydney, the two games where Rohit was unavailable. But a back injury threw a spanner in the works for India's pacer spearhead. Hence, keeping the future of Indian cricket in mind, the BCCI and its selectors gave Gill the responsibility, hoping he would be the solution to all problems.
Kumble, however, just has one concern, which is Gill's batting away from home. In 13 Tests, Gill has scored just 649 runs at an average of 29.50, including one century against Bangladesh. In an indirect message to the chairman of selectors and his former India teammate Ajit Agarkar, Kumble reckons Gill needs to pay attention to his batting before people start expecting out of his captaincy.
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"It's going to be a massive challenge. Initially, I thought Jasprit Bumrah would have been the automatic choice, but they must have a reason there. They would have probably spoken to him, and maybe Jasprit is now looking at taking a break between matches. He felt that it was better not to be the captain. But the ideal choice would have been Jasprit. Now that the selectors have taken a call on Shubman, they'll have to stick with him for a while. Because he needs that kind of leeway as well. First, he has to establish as a batter because even in Australia, he didn't play all matches," the former India spinner said on ESPNCricinfo.
It's wrong to say that Gill has limited captaincy experience. Besides leading the Gujarat Titans for two seasons – they finished 8th last year and are table-toppers this time around. Gill has captained Punjab in one Ranji Trophy game, losing to Karnataka earlier this year, but has captained four more First-Class games – three Duleep Trophy matches and India A in 2019. Gill has captained India in just one series prior, leading the team to a 4-1 win against Zimbabwe.
Leading India a different kettle of fish, says Anil Kumble
However, none of it matches the pressure that comes with captaining the Indian senior men's Test team, believes Kumble, especially now that three of their biggest stalwarts, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin, have retired.
"As a captain, he has certainly shown signs. Of course, it's a very different format. He has a calm head. He's done all the right things for GT in the last couple of seasons as a captain. So as a player, it hasn't really affected him at least in the white-ball formats. And to expect that to happen in Test matches as well – there won't be any issues with his batting just because he is captain… it's going to be a different team without the big boys Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and Ashwin as well. The Indian team is going to look very different," metioned Kumble.
