Shubman Gill couldn’t have asked for a better start to life as Indian captain, particularly with the bat in his hand. After a century in the first Test of his career as skipper in Leeds, Gill had the kind of match that comes to define legacies: 269 in the first innings, followed by 161 in the second at Edgbaston, a player-of-the-match performance to help India level the series in England.
Gill’s entire performance in Birmingham was so authoritative and in control that it reminded Dinesh Karthik of a former India captain and made him think Gill was going to step into those captaincy boots like a duck takes to water.
Speaking on Sky Cricket’s podcast, Karthik narrated how he saw flashes of Virat Kohli in how Gill carried himself.
“Athers, you spoke about Virat Kohli. I met him a few days ago, and this talk about captaincy came up,” said Karthik in response to Michael Atherton. “He said people think ‘, I’m a great Test cricketer. I enjoyed my Test batting, which I did, but the fact is that getting my captaincy was the best thing to happen in my life.’ Why I am saying this is that the same line was used by Shubman Gill.”
‘World of cricket has to take notice…’
Kohli is considered one of India’s greatest Test captains, but what sets him apart is his ability to thrive despite that added pressure. If Gill’s early captaincy stint at the age of 25 is any indication, he is set to go much the same way. Karthik argued that the international cricket fraternity must be ready for another Indian great in the making.
“He said ‘I used to bat differently, but now that I’ve got captaincy, I almost think this is what my team requires, rather than me wanting to do something individually as a batter.’ I said wow, this is something for which the world of cricket has to take notice,” said Karthik, who was not only a long-time teammate of Kohli’s but also led Kolkata Knight Riders when Shubman Gill was breaking through in the IPL.
“Here is a man who has the appetite, he’s got the skill, he’s got the technique, but now he’s got the mindset as well. I’m the captain, I’m going to lead from the front, lead off the front foot,” said Karthik of India’s future at the helm of the Test team.
The job’s not done despite an extremely impressive first Test win for Gill – dominating and winning by 336 runs at Edgbaston. Attention now turns to the Lord’s Test, where the batter will want to continue adding to its famous history books.