'When Shubman Gill scored 269, it was all like, who is Virat Kohli? Who is Rohit Sharma?': Nasser's ruthless swipe

Nasser Hussain had some advice for the under-fire Shubman Gill after his captaincy decisions were slammed during the Manchester Test.

Shubman Gill’s maiden series as India captain is quickly turning into a trial by fire, with criticism mounting over his on-field decisions. While Gill made an excellent start to the series with the bat, scoring two centuries and a double ton across his first four innings, his outings – both as batter and captain – have taken a hit over the past two matches.

India's captain Shubman Gill (L) leads his team off the field at the end of the first innings on day four of the fourth cricket test match between England and India at Old Trafford, in Manchester (AFP)

Gill’s decision-making has been under the scanner, particularly in the fourth Test, where his decisions with bowling rotations were criticised by many former cricketers. A major flashpoint has been his handling of Washington Sundar, who was left underutilized despite conditions that clearly warranted his early introduction. In a Test where spin played a defining role, Sundar wasn't introduced into the attack until the 60th over mark, despite the spin-bowling all-rounder picking a four-fer during the second innings in the Lord's Test.

India vs England Live Updates 4th Test Day 4

With Gill facing significant flak, former English captain Nasser Hussain – who was among the ones critical of Gill's decision surrounding Sundar's introduction into the attack – had some advice for the young captain. Nasser insisted that the public opinions can be fickle, and that Gill should switch off from social media and focus on his captaincy.

“Especially as a young Indian captain… there's no middle ground. When he was getting 260-odd at Edgbaston and winning the Test match, it was all like, 'who is Virat Kohli? Who is Rohit Sharma? We have moved on'. Then you have a couple of bad games, the series starts going away from you, then every decision is picked on,” Nasser told Sky Sports Cricket.

“The key to it is to stay off social media. You are a young learning captain. Learn from this experience. If you are a batter or a bowler, you are not an end product at the start. It's the same with captaincy,” said the former England skipper further.

Sundar showed what India missed soon after he was introduced into the attack, taking two quick wickets. However, England, who had already been in a strong position by the time Sundar came on, capitalised on their solid foundation and posted a mammoth score of 669 in the first innings.

England lead by 311

Thanks to the centuries from Joe Root (150) and Ben Stokes (141), as well as fifties from openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, England dominated the Indian bowling attack, which lacked the sharpness for most of the innings. The hosts are now in a prime position to take an unassailable series lead in Manchester, with India requiring an extraordinary effort from their batting unit to salvage a favourable result.