Shubman Gill, the recently chosen Test skipper of Team India, has shared the lessons he learned from playing the format under Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Gill claimed to have identified one of Kohli’s key qualities as being his initiative, which he plans to use during the England tour.
The 25-year-old played six Test matches under Virat Kohli, but his Test debut came under Rahane. Despite a strong first series, Gill had some difficulty securing a berth in the Test team, and Kohli resigned as captain in 2022.
When asked by Dinesh Karthik during an interview on Sky Sports about what he learned while playing under many leaders throughout his career, Gill stated that Kohli is highly adaptable with his plans. The right-hander went on to explain:
“Yes, definitely a lot of things when I played under Virat Bhai. I think his proactiveness in the Test matches with the field or with the ideas or with his thinking was something that I liked and I picked that up – he was very proactive with his thinking. If he thinks that okay this plan is not working he would immediately have another plan communicate to the bowler that what he wants from them and can seem like he is not aggressive.”
Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill went on to clarify that Rohit has a propensity of swearing at players, but it is not from the heart and is done for the team’s good.
“But Rohit bhai is also very aggressive in terms of his tactics he’s a tactically, he’s quite an aggressive captain and he is someone who is very clear with his communication prior to the matches during the series and even after the series what he wants from the players and the kind of environment. I think Rohit keeps like even if Rohit is swearing at you, you would not take it to your heart that’s just kind of his personality. I think that’s a great trait to have you know, but even if he’s being hard on you, you know that he it’s not coming from his heart it’s coming from a team perspective.”
Shubman Gill
Rohit Sharma concluded his Test career ahead of the England tour, following a dismal series in Australia last year. The right-hander ‘opted’ out of the last match in Sydney after scoring just 31 runs in the three Test matches played in Australia.
“Gauti bhai focuses more on the kind of attitude or the mindset that he requires from the team” – Shubman Gill
When asked to compare the coaching styles of Ashish Nehra and Gautam Gambhir, Gill replied it would be enjoyable to work with slightly different personalities, but their devotion is the same. He went on to say:
“It’ll be very fun. Ashupa is very like you said very hands-on, very animated and very expressive in terms of his personality and your personality kind of reflects on your coaching style as well, so he’s very expressive. Whereas Gauti is very determined, very committed and he’s also very clear with his communication what he wants from the players and what kind of mindset that he would want the players to have.”
Shubman Gill
“I think Gauti bhai focuses more on the kind of attitude or the mindset that he requires from the team or the players. But I think they’re very different personalities but at the end of the You know you’re all working towards a common goal the paths might be different but you’re trying to reach the same destination.”
Shubman Gill
India has not won a Test series in England since 2007.
