Shubman Gill has work to do on his Test match batting and contemplating the added duty of captaincy on the upcoming tour of England, he ought to transfer himself down to quantity 4 within the order, reckons Australian nice Ricky Ponting.
There is loads of hypothesis over India’s new quantity 4 following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Ponting has backed Gill to take up that place not less than within the preliminary levels of his management tenure starting with the five-Test rubber from June 20.
“His white ball form has been incredibly good. He’s got a little bit of work to do, on his Test match batting. And that’s never easy when you’re a new captain, to have to worry about your batting to the degree that he’s going to have to, it won’t be easy for him,” Ponting informed PTI on the sidelines of the Indian Premier League (IPL) the place he coached Punjab Kings to the ultimate.
The newly appointed Test captain began his profession as an opener earlier than transferring down to quantity three final 12 months. Ponting mentioned India have made the appropriate funding in Gill the captain. The two-time ODI World Cup successful skipper sees Gill serving India for a very long time.
“I actually named him as captain for the Sydney Test match last summer when Rohit didn’t play that game and there was a bit of an injury cloud over Bumrah, or as that game went on, Bumrah actually broke down in that game.”
“And look, I don’t know Shubman that well. I’ve spoken to him six, eight, 10 times, maybe the last couple of years around different things and around batting and around leadership. He’s done a great job with GT [Gujarat Titans] , no doubt about that,” he mentioned.
“But he just seemed the sort of guy that the extra responsibility wouldn’t faze too much. It seems like he’s got a really level head on his shoulders. He’s someone that’s going to be around in Indian cricket for another 10 years.”
Gill wants to work on defence, mindset
In his 32-Test profession, Gill has been discovered responsible of enjoying with laborious fingers on a number of events. His defensive approach too has been questioned.
Ponting feels Gill additionally has work to do on the psychological facet of Test match batting.
“…it’s a bit each, there’s a few of the nice Test gamers that haven’t had nice defensive video games, (Virender) Sehwag might be an important instance of that.“
“But if you’re in control of your stroke-play, you don’t have to worry too much about your defence. I mean, obviously it’s (defence) a big part of Test match cricket, but I think it’s more his mental application,” he defined.
Ponting mentioned he sees no technical fault in Gill’s defence.
“[But] I think sometimes you might just get a little bit either ahead of himself or a little bit lazy in the middle of a test match innings. You can’t afford to do that. You’ve got to be 100 per cent committed to every ball that you face through six or seven hours of every day…
“I believe that is the problem for Shubman…,” mentioned Ponting.
Why number four for Gill
Ponting has picked Gill at number four for the first at Leeds for a set of reasons.
“…the rationale I did that was in the event that they go along with [Yashasvi] Jaiswal, and if Sai Sudarshan is the opposite opener, they want somebody a bit extra skilled at quantity three. So that might be both, KL at three, or that might be a Karun Nair at three and Shubman at 4.
“…once you grow into it, then you can move yourself back up to that number three spot,” mentioned one of many best batters of his era.
Right time for Sudharsan to make Test debut
The purpose Ponting won’t have Rahul open with Jaiswal is as a result of he desires Sudharsan to get his alternative on the high of the order. The southpaw has been rated extremely and has been in sensational contact of late.
“I think the time’s right for Sudarshan to come into the side, to be honest. There’s a bit of a regeneration that’s going to happen around this Indian team now, obviously with Rohit and Virat not there.
“Every workforce goes by that…appears to me like Sudarshan’s prepared. Lots of first-class runs, his IPL kind this 12 months has been most likely higher than anyone else,” he identified about the Orange Cap winner of the just-concluded season.
“Technically, appears advantageous. And, you already know, KL down within the center order someplace most likely simply offers that bit extra stability.”
Published – June 05, 2025 05:40 pm IST
