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Sunil Gavaskar advises new Test captain Shubman Gill on leadership, emphasizing respect and behavior over performance. Gill, succeeding Rohit Sharma, becomes India's 37th Test captain and aims to lead by example through discipline and hard work.
Former India captain and legendary batter turned commentator Sunil Gavaskar has an advice for newly-appointed Test captain, Shubman Gill. On Saturday, the BCCI chief Ajit Agarkar at the press conference unveiled Shubman Gill as India’s new Test captain, while announcing an 18-member squad for the upcoming Test series against England, starting on June 20.
Shubman Gill succeeded Rohit Sharma as India’s Test captain after the latter retired from red-ball cricket before the England tour. Before official announcement of India’s Test captaincy, Gill emerged as the front-runner to take up leadership duties in red-ball cricket despite being in contention with Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jasprit Bumrah. The captaincy race was between Gill and Pant before the selectors decided to go with the former as India’s next captain in the longest format of the game.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant has been appointed as the vice-captain, Team India in Tests, marking the beginning of a fresh leadership core that is expected to take the team through a crucial transition phase in the post-Rohit-Kohli era.
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Gavaskar’s advice to India’s new Test captain
Speaking to Sports Tak, Sunil Gavaskar highlighted the difference between a player and being a leader of the team, adding that the captain should behave in a way that other players in the team respect him.
“There is always pressure on the player who gets elected as India's captain as there is a big difference between being a member of the team and being the captain," former India captain said.
“Because when you are a team member, you generally just interact with players close to you, but when you become the captain, you should behave in a way that the other players in the team respect you, and a captain's behavior is more important than his performance." he added.
Shubman Gill has become the 37th Test captain for Team India and sixth since 2007 after MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma. Gill becomes the fourth youngest player after Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, and Ravi Shastri to get an opportunity to lead in the longest format of the game.
Gill has already been part of the leadership group over the last couple of years and is currently vice-captain of India ODI team.
Shubman Gill on his captaincy approach
Speaking in a video posted by Indian Cricket Team on its Instagram handle, Shubman Gill stated that he wanted to lead the team by an example not just by his performance but also by discipline and hard work. He also highlighted the importance of being a good leader.
“I believe in leading by example, not just by performance, but I think off the field by discipline and hard work," the 25-year-old said.
"Everyone has a different personality. So a good leader should always be able to know what makes his players to be able to have the best performance or the best outcome.
That is always exciting to be able to have those conversations with the players, to be able to know them on a deeper level than just cricket, you know, because then you are really able to know what can get the best out of them," he added.
The first big assignment for Shubman Gill as India’s Test captain is the tour of England.
