As of now, Gill has not captained in Test matches or ODIs, but has led the team in five T20Is on a tour of Zimbabwe back in 2024.
The BCCI selection committee, led by former India cricketer Ajit Agarkar, named Shubman Gill as the new Test captain after the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirements from the longest format of the game. Gill’s first captaincy assignment will be the five-Test series in England starting on June 20.
Rishabh Pant has been appointed as Gill’s deputy ahead of Jasprit Bumrah, who was India’s vice-captain during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and captained in the two Test matches Rohit had missed.
Former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta spoke about Gill’s appointment as a full-time Test skipper of the Indian team in an exclusive interview with CricXtasy.
Deep Dasgupta on Shubman Gill becoming Test captain
The former wicketkeeper feels that it’s the right decision by the BCCI, and since the team is going through a transition period, it’s a good choice.
“I don’t think so. I definitely don’t think so,” Dasgupta said. “Please don’t look at this decision in isolation. I think the context is extremely important. This is the start of a new WTC cycle. The team’s going through a transition period. There are a lot of young players. Ideally, you would have wanted somebody to be groomed in the last year or so, which unfortunately did not happen. But at the end of the day, you don’t have too many options. I mean, your first choice would have just been Jasprit Bumrah.”
The fast bowler was another candidate for Test captaincy, but Dasgupta cited workload management as one reason Bumrah may not be a great fit for the role.
“But then, you know, thinking about workload…If somebody who might not end up playing all the Test matches or be there for all the Test matches, for a team going through a transition, it becomes a little difficult. If it had been a set team, I could have toyed around with the idea. Personally, I’m saying, you know, set team, set players, all settled side.
“Then you have someone like him and then groom a younger captain to look for a couple years. But then this is also a new side, a lot of new players. I agree with that decision. Take that leap of faith. Go with someone you think. These are all educated decisions”, Deep Dasgupta told CricXtasy.
As of now, Gill has not captained in Test matches or ODIs, but has led the team in five T20Is on a tour of Zimbabwe back in 2024. The Punjab-based batter has taken part in 32 Test matches so far after making his debut at the MCG on India’s tour of Australia in 2020-21. He has amassed 1893 runs at an average of 35.05 and also took part in the two WTC finals there in 2021 and 2023.
