Shubman Gill will lead India for the first time on June 20 in Leeds.
Test Cricket is simple. You cannot win if you can’t take 20 wickets. And India skipper Shubman Gill has given clear indications of making this the Bible of the new side under his leadership. In the pre-match press conference, Gill touched on various aspects of the series kicking off tomorrow in Leeds. The young Indian skipper spoke about the importance of going all-out against the opposition.
The Indian team has some important questions to ponder. The combination of the team and especially the bowling setup is a huge point of discussion before every tour outside the sub-continent. And for Gill, his very first assignment is not an easy one. India last managed a series victory on English soil back in 2007 under the leadership of Rahul Dravid. For this young team to replicate the same will mean historic for the nation.
The 25-year-old touched upon various topics in the press conference, the most notable of them being India’s bowling combination.
“Yes, definitely. You can’t win a Test match without taking 20 wickets, no matter how many runs you have scored. So, that has been one of our key discussion points, you know, how we’re gonna take 20 wickets. And there might be a case, you know, where we could only be going with some pure batters and you could see a bowling allrounder and three to four premier fast bowlers or proper bowlers”, India’s captain said.
The recent series Down Under was somehow very gruelling for India’s fast bowlers. The team chose to play just three full-time pacers, the fourth one being an inexperienced Nitish Reddy. Washington Sundar too made his appearances, but the wickets seemed to have no purchase for spinners. This time, it is a different equation, with Shardul Thakur coming into the picture. However, one of the most important things for Gill and Co. will be how the team thinks in terms of their approach after facing adversity.
The Indian skipper regarded Test series victories as much above Indian Premier League (IPL) title wins. He stressed the fact that one does not get many opportunities to come to England as the captain and make an impact. On the other hand, the IPL is something that makes its appearance every year. Hence, he strongly feels that winning a Test series in England, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa is a much bigger feat.
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The Gujarat Titans’ skipper has set foot on English soil a couple of times before this. But this time it is with a different outlook. Leading the Indian cricket team will bring its challenges. And one such challenge is not letting captaincy affect his primary skill, i.e., batting. When asked about the same in the press conference, Gill was very clear about how he wanted to manage things. He spoke about the importance of keeping both duties separate and not letting one bother the other.
“Honestly, when I want to go out there and bat, I just want to play as a batsman, not really want to think that I’m the captain of the team because I think that sometimes puts too much pressure on you,” Gill said. “Whenever I’m going out there, I want to play as a batsman and want to want to dominate the opposition and be the best batsman in the series, and that’s what I’m trying to look at”, Gill concluded.
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