Follow UsIndia’s 37th and newly appointed Test skipper Shubman Gill isn’t going to have it easy in the five-match Test series against England. Since 2007, India have come only once close to winning a Test series in England, showing how tough the job is for Gill.
Gill would have to do it without the experience of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma around him. Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik, who has been on multiple tours to England, warned the 26-year-old, comparing India’s top job to walking into the ‘lion’s den’.
“I really don’t think he has realised the enormity of what it means to be the Test captain for India as of now. He is walking into the lion’s den,” Karthik told Sky Sports.
However, Karthik also opined that Gill is quite lucky, stating that this England bowling attack is very ‘vulnerable’, in the absence of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, two of the all-time red-ball greats.
“Coming to England as a cricketing nation is not easy. There have been many a team with superstars who have come in and have found it really, really hard,” Karthik said. “Luckily, luckily for Shubman Gill, I think the England bowling attack is very vulnerable. That is the only positive I see.”
India’s bowling unit too can come under pressure, given that Ravichandran Ashwin has hung up his boots, and India haven’t picked the experienced Mohammed Shami. It leaves Jasprit Bumrah as the leader of the bowling unit. Karthik admitted that England’s batting could definitely apply pressure.
“They are going to be put under pressure with the bat. When I say bat, I mean England’s batting will definitely put the Indian team under pressure. The bowling is an area that is still a work in progress for England, and that could very well play into India’s hands,” he further added.
The first of the five Tests between India and England will begin on June 20 (Friday), at Headingley in Leeds.