India's New Test Captain Shubman Gill Opens Up About Learnings From Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma

Shubman Gill is India’s new Test captain, and the 25-year-old is looking forward to getting to know his players at a “deeper level” so that he can “get the best out of them”. Gill’s first assignment as India’s Test skipper will be the five-match Test series in England, starting on June 20.

"As a captain, a leader should be able to know when to step in but also when to give space to the players, because everyone has kind of had a different life and grown up differently. Everyone has a different personality, so a good leader should always be able to know what makes their players to be able to have their best performance or achieve the best outcome,” Gill told BCCI.tv.

"That is always exciting to be able to have those conversations with the players, to be able to know them on a deeper level than just cricket, because then you're really able to know what can get the best out of them."

Gill has captained India in T20Is and has also been Gujarat Titans (GT)’s captain since the last season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Under his leadership, GT have qualified for the playoffs of the ongoing IPL 2025.

"One of the things that I learned was if I'm a batsman, I'm batting out there. I want to be able to make decisions as a batsman and not as a captain. If I start thinking about other things, it just puts more pressure on me, which is not required, because when you're batting out there, you want to be able to take those risks,” said Gill.

"You want to be able to make decisions that you would make when you are playing just as a batsman, because that gives you the freedom. That is one of the things that I learned, that whenever I am batting out there, I just want to be able to make decisions as a batsman and not really want to think that I'm the captain."

Talking about what he has learned from now-retired Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Gill said: "When I was a kid, always inspired by the greats and the legends of Indian cricket and been very fortunate to be able to play with so many of them be it Virat bhai or Rohit bhai. Both were very contrasting in terms of their style, but it was very inspiring to see both of them working towards a common goal.

"You want to be able to win as a captain and your styles can be different, but they both were very different but also similar in their own sense. Virat bhai was always very aggressive, always wanting to lead from the front with hunger and passion, whereas Rohit bhai was also aggressive, but you might not see that on their reaction or on their expressions, but he was also someone who was always very attacking on the field.

"Rohit bhai was very calm and tactically always very present. He's very communicative to the players, what he wants from the players and so these are the qualities that I learned from him.

"Guys like Rohit bhai, Virat bhai and Ashwin bhai, they have given us a blueprint on how to tour away from home and win matches and series. Yes, it's one thing to be able to deliver and execute but because we have that blueprint, we know how to tour away from home and win matches and series."

Gill is also looking forward to the “challenging” England tour. "My favourite series that I played was also a five-Test series when England came to India (2024) and I think there's a different essence when you're playing a five-Test series," he said. 

"It's long, it's mentally and physically very challenging and I think that's the most exciting part about Test cricket because there are different areas and aspects that it challenges you at. It's not one-dimensional. There's a lot more things that go on in red-ball cricket and that's the most exciting thing … It's not going to be easy, but I think we're ready for any challenge."