Test veteran Cheteshwar Pujara on Sunday (May 25, 2025) mentioned it will be a challenge for a teen like Shubman Gill to captain India in robust situations in England, however a large alternative and confidence booster for him if he achieves success as a chief in the marquee sequence.
Gill was named the brand new Test captain on Saturday (May 24), succeeding Rohit Sharma. The transfer formally started a new period in the Indian red-ball set-up after the shock retirements of Rohit and Virat Kohli.
Rohit and Kohli introduced their Test retirements inside a span of 1 week this month.
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“When you go abroad as a captain, whether you are young or matured, it will be challenging. To start off in England, it won’t be easy for Shubman but it’s a great opportunity for a young player. If he leads well in England it will boost his confidence.
“The cause he has been given the duty forward of Jasprit Bumrah is as a result of we’re listening to that Bumrah will not be ready to play all 5 Test matches,” Pujara said on Sunday (May 25, 2025) during an online interaction organised by Sony Sports network, the official broadcaster of India’s tour of England.
“So if Shubman has been given the duty, the workforce administration and selectors are pondering that he might lead the workforce for a very long time.”
The 37-year-old Pujara, who is yet to announce Test retirement after last playing for India in June 2023, advised Gill to keep captaincy and his batting separate.
“There can be a lot of duty on him as a batter however I’m positive the form of expertise he has he will be profitable in England. It will positively inspire him to carry out nicely. I do not know whether or not being a captain it will carry the very best out of him however as a batter he has all the time tried to carry out nicely for the workforce.
“When you are playing as a batter at the highest level you never think about whether you are a captain or a player, you always want to do well for the team. You need to keep it separate, when you are batting in the middle, you need to think as batter rather than thinking about captaincy,” Pujara mentioned.
Pujara, who has scored 7195 runs from 103 Tests after making India debut in 2010, feels the captaincy duty will not have an effect on Gill’s batting method, which is aggressive.
“I don’t think his batting approach will change, he has to bat the way he bats. He is an aggressive player, he likes to play his shots and he has to continue playing his shots but at the same time he needs to understand the English conditions and figure out who is the right bowler to take on,” he mentioned.
Pujara additionally justified the explanation behind naming Rishabh Pant as vice-captain for the England tour regardless of the wicketkeeper-batter’s poor type of late.
“Bumrah is out of contention for captain or vice-captain’s role and that’s the reason Pant has been given the vice-captaincy.
“He is out of shape in the T20 format however in Test cricket he has been probably the greatest batters. His document in England has been actually good in the previous and he’s succesful sufficient to repeat these sensible knocks,” he said.
Pujara wants KL Rahul and Yashavi Jaiswal to continue as openers, while suggesting the names of Karun Nair and Abhimanyu Easwaran for the next slot.
“The openers who batted in Australia in the BGT (Border-Gavaskar Trophy) sequence — KL Rahul and Yashasvi, they need to proceed. Now speaking about no.3, at this stage we do not know whether or not Shubman will bat there or drop down to No.4.
“If Shubman bats at No.4, then someone like Abhimanyu Eshwaran or Karun Nair could be a good fit at that position but I would still like to see Shubman batting at No.3,” he mentioned.
“Someone like Karun who has done very well in domestic cricket, I think the ideal position for Karun would be No.4. If Shubaman bats at No.3, then Karun Nair comes at No.4. If Shubman bats at No.4, then at No. 3 it would be a choice between Abhimanyu Eshwaran or Sai Sudharsan.”
The five-match Test sequence begins at Leeds on June 20.
Published – May 25, 2025 04:29 pm IST
