Rahul Dravid's feedback decisive factor in Shubman Gill becoming India Test captain
Rahul Dravid did not have a second thought before raving about Shubman Gill's leadership qualities when the selectors wanted his opinion.
Rahul Dravid and Shubman Gill's association dates back to 2017. Gill was an 18-year-old about to taste 'international cricket' for the first time as part of India's U19 team coached by Dravid. He was not the biggest name in that side. It was Prithvi Shaw, the captain and the next big thing in Indian cricket. By the time the same team won the U19 World Cup a year later, the dynamics had changed ever so slightly. Gill was India's highest run-scorer. His composure, balance and ability to stick his neck out under pressure were the highlights. Both Dravid and Gill were a few paces away from the senior team's set-up then. It took three years for them to reunite as player and coach at Team India.
A year later, then-India head coach Dravid, after taking then-captain Rohit Sharma into confidence, offered something unique to Gill. He asked him where he would want to bat in India's Test XI. Gill, averaging in early 30s, was just 15 Test matches old at that time. Dravid must have seen something in him which was beyond stats. To be honest, many have in Gill the batter. But Dravid's gut feel was greater. He saw a future leader in the young man from Punjab.
Gill, an opener from the start of his Test career, picked the No.3 spot recently vacated by Cheteshwar Pujara. It was not before the home Test series against England in 2024 that Gill really stood up to repay the coach and captain's faith. After losing the first Test in Hyderabad, India needed a batter apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal to step up in Virat Kohli's absence, who was missing the entire series due to personal reasons. Gill did that with utmost ease, cracking a second-innings century in the next Test.
The right-hander was kind of playing for a spot. Gill would go on to hit two second-innings half-centuries in the next two Tests and cap the five-match Test series with another century in Dharamsala to help India win 4-1. The pitches were difficult to bat and India were without some of their star batters but Gill stood like a rock at No.3.
In the same series, he actively took an interest in the team's planning and field placements. He started to voice his opinion on important matters inside the dressing room. Dravid took that positively. The potential he saw a few years ago was finally materialising into something concrete.
Dravid himself would not have thought that Gill's rise as a leader in Indian cricket would be so rapid when he quit as head coach after the T20 World Cup triumph a few months later, but then again, who would have imagined Rohit Sharma's steep fall in the last three Test series?
Dravid's role in Shubman Gill's appointment
When the selectors were deliberating between Gill and Rishabh Pant as India's next Test captain after Rohit Sharma's retirement - Jasprit Bumrah was out of the equation due to his workload management - they sought Dravid's opinion. The legendary cricketer did not have a second thought before raving about Gill's leadership qualities.
Hindustan Times has reliably learnt that former head coach Dravid's feedback played a decisive role in Gill becoming India's Test captain at the age of 25 despite having a not-so-inspiring batting average of 35.
"The selectors spoke to Dravid as he had seen Gill when he was a teenager and had also coached him at the U19 and the senior team. He had some great things to say about Gill's potential as a leader," a BCCI source said.
Agarkar said Gill is in for a long haul as leader and his selection committee has full faith in his ability to rise to the challenge.
"You don't pick captains for one or two tours. You want to try and invest in something that's going to help us going forward. We were hoping that it's the right call. We've seen some progress over the course of the last year with him," he said.
Gill was being prepped to be the next captain. He was picked as the ODI vice-captain right before the Champions Trophy. A similar move would have followed in Test cricket had India not fared poorly in their last two Test series and Rohit and Kohli hadn't called time simultaneously.
Agarkar, Dravid and the millions of Indian cricket fans would hope that their leap of faith bears fruit, if not immediately, then in the near future.
