'How can someone who doesn't even fit in Playing XI be made captain?' Shubman Gill 'not even India's 2nd-best option'

Decision to name Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma's captaincy replacement did not impress many,, as questions were raised on his very place in the Test playing XI.

Last week, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee ended weeks of speculation to name Shubman Gill as the new captain of the Indian Test team, while Rishabh Pant was assigned the vice-captaincy role. The two will take over their respective roles when India tour England for a five-match Test series, starting June 20. The decision to name Gill as Rohit Sharma's captaincy replacement, however, did not impress many, with most experts questioning his very place in the playing XI for the Test series.

Shubman Gill was named India's new Test captain (AFP)

Speaking to Cricbuzz, former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary reckoned the selectors had gone for the second-best option in Gill amid the uncertainty over the fitness of Jasprit Bumrah, who led India twice in the tour of Australia earlier this year, which included a win in the Perth opener in the absence of Rohit.

“He was the second-best option. But how can someone who doesn't even fit in the Playing XI be made captain? So I feel the logic here was that they looked at who the second-best option was, and that was Gill, and that is how it happened,” he said.

‘Pant could be made captain in the future’

India legend Virender Sehwag, who was also on the panel, agreed with the selectors that Bumrah should not be given the responsibility amid uncertainty over his availability for all Test matches for India. However, he disagreed with Tiwary, saying it Rishabh Pant was the second-best option and not Gill.

“For a series, Bumrah is okay. But as a long-term option, you need to ask if India play 10 Tests in a year, will he be able to play all those matches? Or, how many matches can he play? That is a major factor in picking a captain. So that I feel was the right decision, because they felt they could not put that pressure and load on Bumrah. Tiwary said Gill is the second-best, but I feel that is Rishabh Pant, and Gill is the third-best,” he said.

Effusive in his praise for the India wicketkeeper-batter, Sehwag said Pant remains the only other cricketer apart from Virat Kohli, who has made Test cricket appealing to modern-day spectators, and hence reckoned that with his elevation to vice-captaincy, there stands a possibility of him being made the captain in the future, if he maintains consistency with his run-scoring.

“What Pant did for Test cricket, no other player has done. After Virat Kohli, if there is one player who has compelled fans into watching Test cricket, it's Pant. But because he had that accident, got injured and then came back, he did not have that much of an impact, and hence he was made the vice-captain, thinking that if he can bounce back to form, they can take that decision of making him the captain in the future. But there are very few bowlers who are made the captain. In my career, it was just Anil Kumble, who loved the format, was available and was a certainty in the XI.”