Follow UsFormer India batter WV Raman said Shubman Gill knows that selectors will back him as Test captain for a while, and that will give him a lot of confidence. After Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from Test cricket, Gill was named India’s new skipper. The 25-year-old’s first assignment will be the five-match Test series in England, starting on June 20.
“He’s come a long way since we spent some time in England when he was a part of the Under-19 side. What he’s done well is to try and identify the areas he needs to improve and he’s done that. Even starting with conversing in English, he’s made leaps and bounds in terms of improving the areas that he needed to. As far as Gill is concerned, I think he’s aware of the fact that he will not be just a stop-gap option,” Raman told IANS.
“He knows that the selectors will back him for a while. So, that should give him a lot of confidence, even as a batter, because if he was not the captain, maybe he might be feeling a little bit insecure and he might think that the axe is definitely hanging above his head. But now that he’s made the captain, I think he doesn’t need to even have those kinds of thoughts, which will obviously help him to get runs.”
Gill also has an average record in SENA countries. The right-handed batter has scored 514 runs in 21 innings at an average of 25.7, managing just two 50-plus scores. That average drops to just 14.67 in England, where he has scored only 88 runs in six innings. There’s also no confirmation on where he will bat, with Virat Kohli also having announced his Test retirement.
“But as far as the technical part of things are concerned, he needs to try and wait for the ball to come on to him, rather than look to try and play on the up as he does normally on these tracks here in the subcontinent, which is the way he’s used to batting before leading up to this series in the IPL," added Raman, who has worked with Gill in his Under-19 days.
Talking about Gill’s deputy Rishabh Pant, Raman said, “He’s got to back himself and tell himself that he’s played some out-of-this-world innings in Test cricket to win matches for India, or to perhaps possibly even secure a draw for India abroad. So, that is what he must bank on.
“These things obviously will come into play when you’re on a tough tour – the things that X, Y has done in the past. That’s where they’ll draw the inspiration from. It’s all a matter of Rishabh Pant having a couple of good hours in the first Test, and the entire landscape will change.”
India haven’t won a Test series in England since 2007, and Raman said everyone knows that the current Test team is going through a transition, so there won’t be too much pressure on the players. “I think there is no pressure on this particular Indian team for the simple reason that everybody realises that this team is going through transition," Raman said.
“The fact that everybody is already looking at being patient with them is a big plus for them, and I think that’s the big plus for this current Indian side. Under a new captain and a new vice-captain with a lot of slots up for grabs is a situation where everybody realises that there will be a bit of pressure on them.
“But at the same time, it’s a big opportunity for a lot of youngsters and also for people like Karun Nair to try and cement their place, because if they end up performing in a key series like this, it will stand them in good stead.”