Shubman Gill has finally revealed the name of the captain he admires and also hinted that he is eyeing the permanent captaincy of the Indian National Cricket Team.
Rohit Sharma has been the captain of the Indian team across all formats ever since Virat Kohli stepped down from his post. However, recently Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from T20Is and no permanent captain has been named for the format.
Hardik Pandya is the frontrunner for the job as he was Rohit Sharma’s understudy, but Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Suryakumar Yadav have also been floated for the role. Moreover, Rohit Sharma has clearly stated that he will continue to play in ODIs and Tests for a while, so the captaincy in those formats is not up for grabs.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has now made his position clear on the leadership role of the Indian team by leading a young team to a 4-1 victory over the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team on an away tour.
Under the leadership of Shubman Gill, India suffered a shock defeat in the series opener against Zimbabwe. Gill became the third Indian captain to suffer a defeat against the Chevrons in the T20I format after Ajinkya Rahane and MS Dhoni.
However, he made sure his team bounced back and led the team exceptionally well in the next four matches. Gill did a good job as a leader and as a batsman in the last four T20Is and helped his team win the series 4-1.
Speaking after the fifth T20I, Shubman Gill said that captaincy allows him to bring out the best in himself as he gets more involved in the game. He elaborated (as quoted by ESPNCricinfo):
“It’s something I definitely enjoy. I think it brings out the best in me when I’m on the field because I’m looking to get involved in the game. It’s something that really brings out the side of me that I enjoy being on the field.”
Shubman Gill admitted that he felt pressured as captain after losing the first match, but he knows how to handle the situation. Shubman Gill said:
“There was pressure, I wouldn’t say extra pressure, but obviously even when you’re playing as a hitter and you’re not performing well, there’s a certain kind of pressure that goes along with that,” he said. “But I think that’s the fun part. You feel a lot of different emotions. Pressure is one of them. And when you come out of it, the satisfaction you feel is immense.”
Speaking about the young team he led on the tour of Zimbabwe, Shubman Gill said it felt amazing to lead a group of incredibly talented cricketers. He said:
“To be able to lead such phenomenally talented players who I’ve had the pleasure of playing with or against at some point in junior cricket or U-19 or at Indian level, it’s a truly incredible feeling.
“When you’ve played against or with so many players… I think almost everyone I’ve played against or played with at some age group level, it definitely makes my job easier because I understand them on a player level and I understand them as people as well.
“There are so many talented players, so many up-and-coming players and it’s really fun to be able to play alongside them when I’m on the non-striker end,” Gill said.
Lastly, Shubman Gill revealed that the captain he looks up to is Rohit Sharma, but added that he likes to learn from MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya. Gill said:
“You can learn qualities from Rohit bhai or even Mahi (MS Dhoni) bhai, Virat (Kohli) bhai, Hardik (Pandya) bhai, all of them,” he said. “They all have great qualities. I have played the most with Rohit bhai, so he is someone I look up to and I really enjoy playing with him.”
