Legendary England captain praises Shubman Gill, but tells him to take notes from Ben Stokes: ‘You've got the talent…’

David Gower was full of praise for Shubman Gill after a strong start to his captaincy career, and pointed out how Ben Stokes led from the front at Lord's.

Shubman Gill has had a strong start to life as Indian Test captain in his first three matches, but still comes out trailing the series 2-1 to England thus far after a heartbreakingly narrow loss at Lord’s. While Gill has impressed both with his captaincy and his batting thus far this series, moments such as his confrontation with Zak Crawley have led to some question marks regarding his early tenure.

Shubman Gill and Ben Stokes are trying to lead their teams towards lifting the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. (AFP)

Nevertheless, India’s new captain got the sign-off from one of cricket’s captaincy greats, as former English skipper David Gower heaped praise on how he is leading from the front — and how he is taking notes from Ben Stokes, considered one of the great leaders of the modern game.

“Building a team depends on so many things. At the start of the series, people focused on the absence of Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli). But Shubman stepped up and played beautifully in two Tests,” said Gower in an interview with Sportstar. “You don’t have to be 34 to lead — you can be 24, if you’ve got talent, a good head, and a solid technique. That kind of player can fill the gap.”

Gill’s captaincy seemed to have a positive effect on his batting. While he had a quiet outing at Lord’s, he already leads run-scoring charts in the series and has broken a host of records with his scores of 269 and 161 at Edgbaston, and a century at Headingley in the first match to boot.

Gower showers praise on Ben Stokes' bowling effort

Gower highlighted that a captain starting off on such a foot could have a positive influence, pointing out that a good team performance is built on quality individual performances, which includes the captain. He pointed out how Stokes’ bowling effort spurred England on in their defence of 192 at Lord’s.

“Team-building often comes down to individual moments. Look at Stokes at Lord’s — this is the Stokes we’ve missed: bowling 90 miles an hour, driving the attack forward. You want all your key players at peak performance — that’s what shifts a match,” said Gower.

Gill is still learning on his feet and as he goes in his role as Indian captain, but there are certainly positive signs in his demeanor and his tactical calls. Whether the Indian team is able to bounce back from a loss once again in the series will come down to whether he can keep the energy up, and perhaps some more luck at the toss at Manchester’s Old Trafford, after calling incorrectly thrice thus far.