Shubman Gill's 'inexperience' pointed out by England: 'Ideally, BCCI would want Bumrah as India captain but...'
England all-rounder Moeen Ali has sent a reminder about Shubman Gill's inexperience at the Test level as surges ahead in the race to become India's captain.
Shubman Gill is the frontrunner to become India's next Test captain, and he most likely will start his journey in the upcoming five-match series against England, beginning June 20. Rohit Sharma decided to hang up his boots in the longest format last week, and ever since then, there has been intense speculation regarding who might lead India. Former England spinner Moeen Ali reckons Shubman Gill might be the right choice, but he also pointed out the youngster's ‘inexperience’ of leading in Test matches.
Moeen Ali also stated that ideally, BCCI would have wanted Jasprit Bumrah to lead India against England, but looking at the pacer's workload, the management might just refrain from making him the long-term captain.
Bumrah had led the side in Rohit Sharma's absence in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and he even captained the side to a victory in the Perth Test. However, he went down due to a back spasm in Sydney and ever since then, reports started circulating regarding how the pacer might not be the skipper in Tests.
“I think it will be Shubman Gill. Ideally, the BCCI would want Jasprit Bumrah to captain because he is a very good captain, a good leader who has done it before. But because of his injury record, he might not be able to last the whole series,” Moeen Ali told Sky Sports.
“I think they'll give the captaincy to somebody who's done decently so far in Test cricket. Gill leads Gujarat Titans in IPL, so they've still got a very, very good captain, inexperienced, yes, but a good captain and good brain, but it'll be a challenge in the English conditions,” he added.
This will be Gill's second tour to England. Despite being tipped as the frontrunner to be India's future captain, Gill does not boast big numbers in whites. After playing 32 Tests, he averages just 35 in Test cricket, which comes down to 29 in away Tests. Gill's only Test century away from home came in Bangladesh.
Where will Shubman Gill bat?
Gill started his Test career as an opening batter but was slotted in at No.3 after Cheteshwar Pujara faded away. He himself volunteered for that position during the West Indies tour in 2023 when Rahul Dravid was the team's head coach. There is no reason to believe he would change his batting order after becoming the captain unless he feels like the much-famed No.4 slot left vacant by Virat Kohli's retirement.
Apart from Shreyas Iyer, who was a part of India's Test squad the last time they toured England, others who could be charged with the almost impossible task of following in all-time great Kohli's footsteps are Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar and Dhruv Jurel.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has also been mentioned as a future captain, but his current poor form and less-than-inspiring leadership of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL are counting against his immediate elevation.
Leading pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah was Rohit's deputy in Australia and led the team in two Tests, winning one, and was seen as another candidate for captain.
But Bumrah has only recently returned to action after suffering a back injury during the final Test at Sydney in January.
The five Tests in England are crammed into six weeks, meaning India will need to manage the workload of their pace attack by resting bowlers for one or more matches, effectively ruling Bumrah out of the captaincy debate.
