‘Unbelievable’ - Yuvraj Singh Lost for Words at Shubman Gill’s Extraordinary Rise

The Indian management took an extremely bold step by appointing Shubman Gill as the Test captain, considering the 25-year-old was far from an ‘established player’ in the first XI. In fact, two games before being appointed full-time captain, Gill was dropped from the first team for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 

Not to mention, there were also question marks over Gill’s ability to succeed in SENA countries, considering that between 2020 and 2025 May, his only 50+ score in a SENA country was at the Gabba in his debut series. 

However, Gill rose extraordinarily to the occasion in his first series as captain, hammering 754 runs in 5 Tests, smashing four hundreds in the process. He led from the front with the bat, and he not only silenced all critics but rose to a whole new level in his first series as a leader.

His mentor, Yuvraj Singh, was left stunned by his protege’s rise.

“There were a lot of question marks over his overseas record. The guy became the captain and scored four Test hundreds. It's just unbelievable that when you're given responsibility, how you take it,” Yuvraj said, speaking to ICC Digital.

“So, very proud of them. I certainly feel it's a win for us, although it's a drawn series, because it's a young team. And it's not easy to go and play well in England and prove yourself.”

There was no paucity of great moments in this series, but Yuvraj singled out the match-saving partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar in the fourth Test as his moment of the series.

“The moment in the tournament was when India drew the Test series. I've never seen, in a very long time, Washington and Jadeja got hundreds and drew a Test match,"  Yuvraj said.

“That speaks volumes. Obviously Jadeja has been there for a long time. But I think Washington Sundar, as a youngster coming into the team, I think it was incredible to do what he did,” he added.

The 43-year-old was full of praise for the young Indian side for taking the England challenge ‘head-on’, when not many gave them a chance of doing anything significant.

“I think it's just fantastic because I felt when you have a young team going to England, it's a lot of pressure,” he said.

“You're filling the boots of somebody like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, it's not easy. I think the guys took it head-on.”