‘Undue Pressure’ – Sunil Gavaskar Weighs in on Shubman Gill vs Shreyas Iyer Debate for India Captaincy Role

Former India legend Sunil Gavaskar has challenged the narrative of Shreyas Iyer becoming the white-ball captain, with reference to Shubman Gill. Shreyas’s success as captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has given rise to multiple sketches, promoting him as India’s next white-ball skipper. Gavaskar, however, feels that he first needs to make an appearance on the Indian side.

The former opener expressed that such narratives can exert undue pressure on Gill. The Punjab batter was recently elected as India’s Test captain. 

If he [Shreyas] is worthy of being the captain or not, we first need to look at Shubman Gill, who is the Test captain. We need to give him opportunities. If we talk about such things, then we are creating undue pressure on Shubman Gill,” Gavaskar said in an interview.

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Need to Show Confidence in Shubman Gill

India’s 1983 World Cup-winning batter firmly voiced that this is the time to show confidence in the 25-year-old and back his abilities as a skipper. He also stressed that there should be no doubts created in his mind due to unwanted narratives. 

“We need to show tremendous confidence in Shubman Gill, who has just been made the Test captain. He is our India captain. [We] shouldn’t create doubts in his mind and there should be no pressure on him,” Gavaskar added. 

The legendary batter was clear on the fact that Shreyas can be looked at as a captaincy option when he joins the team.

The 30-year-old was not included in India’s squad for the England Test tour starting later this month. His last Test appearance was back in February 2024. He was dropped from BCCI’s list of centrally contracted players last year. He went on to help the Kolkata Knight Riders lift the IPL. This year, the Punjab Kings skipper also won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as Mumbai captain. 

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