• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Shubman Nothing Like Virat Kohli Sharma Nasser Gives Verdict On Gills Captaincy

"Shubman Nothing Like Virat Kohli, Sharma…" Nasser Gives Verdict On Gill's Captaincy

Aakash Saini

Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma with Virat Kohli [Source: AP Photos, @ICC/x]Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma with Virat Kohli [Source: AP Photos, @ICC/x]

Team India, under the leadership of first-time captain Shubman Gill, failed to defend over 350 runs on the final day to lose the Headingley Test by five wickets. Trailing 0-1 in the five-match series, Team India will now face hosts England in Birmingham from July 2 onwards.

Gill was appointed as India’s new Test captain last month following the sudden retirements of his predecessors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Assessing Gill’s captaincy, former England skipper and active commentator Nasser Hussain has now given his verdict about the young Indian leader.

Nasser Says Shubman Gill Lacking That “On-Field” Aura

Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain believes Shubman Gill does not have the same captaincy “aura” as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma used to have during their playing and leadership days. While speaking on Sky Sports and as quoted by the Indian Express, Hussain said:

“I thought I saw someone just finding his way, honestly. You’ve got to be very careful in the first Test match, the people he’s taken over from, Kohli, and then Rohit Sharma. I thought he didn’t quite have that on-field aura as the names I mentioned there. You look down on those two previous names, and you immediately see who was in charge of India.”

Nasser Hussain also added that he thought Shubman Gill was more “reactive” on the field as opposed to being proactive.

“I looked down from the press box, the commentary position, there were a lot of captains; it was a bit captaincy by committee, which can happen in your early days as a leader because you’re still having senior players like Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul who want to try and help you out as much as possible. I thought he followed the ball a lot. I thought he was reactive as opposed to proactive.”

Shubman Gill’s Indian troops will now face England at Birmingham between July 2 and July 6 next week. Team India needs to win the impending fixture in a bid to level the series.