On Saturday, May 24, BCCI unveiled Shubman Gill as India's New Test captain as the right-hand batter became the 37th Test captain in the history of Indian cricket and also the fifth youngest India Test captain. However, the internet was divided after the appointment as a section of fans expressed their disappointment of Gill succeeding Rohit Sharma because of his uncertainty in the Indian team as a player.
Meanwhile, the new responsibility also pose challenges for Gill and this article will look at the major challenges for Shubman as a captain for the England tour.
1.Focus On Batting
It is worth noting that Shubman Gill hasn't replicated his white-ball performance in the red-ball cricket, which led to several fans doubting his place in the Test side. Nonetheless, Gill averages 35 in Test cricket and talking about his performance in India, he averages 42, but when it comes to SENA countries, Shubman's average drops to just 26.7, which includes two fifty-plus scores.
To make the matter worse, Shubman has just 88 runs in six innings in England, averaging just 14.66, which includes no fifty-plus score, his worst performance in a nation. Thus, a challenge would be to focus on his batting alongside handling the pressure of leading a team.
Gill would be under immense pressure to score runs as well as to produce results and do well as a team. Let's look at his detailed stats.
Criteria
Innings
Runs
Average
50/100
Overall
59
1893
35.05
7/5
In India
31
1177
42.03
5/4
In SENA Countries
21
514
24.4
2/0
In England
6
88
14.66
0/0
2. Possible Demotion In Batting Order
It is worth noting that as a captain, Gill will have to think about the team and it might also include demoting himself in the batting order. Given the squad, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are likely to open the innings while Sai Sudharsan is most likely to take up the No.3 spot, which means that the new captain will have to demote himself to No.4.
Notably, Gill, in his Test career, has never batted at No.4 and having to bat at a new position can pose a big challenge for Shubman, who is already struggling for runs. Let's look at his stats across batting order.
Criteria
Innings
Runs
Average
50/100
1st Position
4
28
7
0/0
2nd Position
25
846
36.78
4/2
3rd Position
30
1019
37.74
3/3
3. Selection Headaches
It is worth noting that Gill is the fifth youngest Indian to captain the side in Test cricket. While, Rohit and Virat are gone, Gill might face the pressure of making tough calls on his seniors. Players like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja are all seniors and to put out his blunt assessment on the performance and plans can get tough for a young captain.
As a result, this might also impact the bowling rotation as Gill will have to make tough calls on Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and even Ravindra Jadeja for that matter regarding when to bring them on and take them off the attack.
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Shubman Gill - (Source : @Johns/X.com)
 "Abhinav Tyagi")
