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Cricket Players‘Moving on from Rohit Sharma as captain was wrong’: Kaif takes aim at Indian management for overburdening Shubman Gill
Kaif expressed concern over the burden placed on Shubman Gill as captain, suggesting that the added responsibility came too early.
India’s 1–2 ODI series defeat to New Zealand has once again put the spotlight on Shubman Gill’s leadership, with the young skipper still searching for his first series win since taking over from Rohit Sharma. His tenure has begun with back-to-back setbacks, first against Australia on their own turf and now against New Zealand at home. What has added to the scrutiny is the context of the latest loss. New Zealand travelled without senior figures Kane Williamson and Mitchell Santner, yet outplayed India in the final two matches. The visitors showed greater composure in key moments, overturning expectations and creating history by winning a bilateral ODI series in India for the first time.
Shubman was handed India’s ODI captaincy after Rohit was removed from the role ahead of the Australia tour, despite having led the side to a Champions Trophy title in his last assignment.
Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif questioned India’s decision to move on from Rohit Sharma, arguing that his approach to bilateral series and his proven success in ICC tournaments offered stability and perspective that the current setup appears to be missing.
"Under Rohit, many times we would be 2-0 and he would then try new players in the last game even if we lost, just to see them. We never lost the series at least. He never took bilaterals so seriously. He made a solid team in ICC events. It would have been smart to support him. Moving on from him was the wrong move. They wanted the credit of making the new team, making Gill captain. Behind all that, this New Zealand defeated us at home and went. Something that even a big captain like Kane Williamson could not do, Bracewell did that," Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
“A lot of load put on Shubman Gill”
Kaif further expressed concern about the burden placed on Shubman as captain, suggesting that the added responsibility came too early and has begun to affect both his confidence and his natural flow at the crease in ODI cricket.
"Shubman Gill is not in the T20 team. It is not his fault. He is a good player. But there was a lot of load put on him. He was not ready to bear all this. He has a certain capacity. There was a lot of weight on him. That is the reason he has been dropped now. He was just running from one place to another. This is equal to reducing his career. He is under pressure now, and it is affecting his batting in ODIs as well. He scored a fifty, but there was not the same fluency, and he always used to convert before," Kaif added.
