3 Reasons Why Shubman Gill Is Not An Ideal Choice For India’s Test Captaincy

With Rohit Sharma declaring his Test retirement immediately, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors have a stiff task of appointing a new leader in the longest format. India will be tripping England for a five-match Test series, starting from June 20 at Leeds in Headingley.

Recent reports have stated that Shubman Gill could be the front-runner to lead the national side in the five-day format. It won’t be an easy job for the youngster, who has yet to crack the Test code.

The right-handed batter has smashed 1893 runs in his 59 innings at an average of 35.05 and a strike rate of 59.92, thanks to five centuries and seven half-centuries at the best score of 128 runs. There were a few other options for the selectors to appoint a new captain in the red-ball format.

Here are the 3 reasons why Shubman Gill is not an ideal choice for India’s Test captaincy.

1. Shubman Gill’s SENA struggles

Shubman Gill’s Test record in SENA countries doesn’t match his talents. It’s different from where it stands at home and the rest of the places.

In India, the right-handed batter has scored 1177 runs in 31 innings at an average of 42.04 and a strike rate of around 60, shouldering four centuries and five half-centuries at the best score of 128 runs. His next best record in the longest format is down under, where he has notched up 352 runs in 11 innings at an average of 35.20, with two fifties.

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In England, where India is making a trip, Gill has smashed just 88 runs in six innings at an average of 14.67 with the best score of just 28 runs. For the Rainbow Nation trip, he has 74 runs in four innings.

None of these records is heavy enough to get Gill into the playing eleven. In that case, it will be incredibly hard for him to be the leader of the side.

2. Poor captaincy record

Shubman Gill’s captaincy record across formats hasn’t been great. He has led Punjab in the past, during the domestic events, but the state has not won any major honors in the leadership department. Gujarat, in the youngster’s first year of leadership, went through a poor season to finish in the eighth position, despite appearing to be the favorites.

Test matches are not easy to lead. Keeping in mind the bowlers and field positions in different situations of the game, along with matching the same intensity, sometimes burns out the batters, who need to turn up quite rapidly once the inning ends.

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India will be starting the third season of the WTC in 2025-27 with a five-match away series, followed by two home series against the Proteas and the West Indies. All of these make it difficult for Shubman Gill to be the new leader of the Indian Test side.

3. Availability of better candidates

Apart from Shubman Gill, the Indian selectors will have better candidates, including the premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, who has led the side in two Tests, winning the opening red-ball clash at the Optus Stadium in Perth during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.

KL Rahul has led the side in a few Tests, where he has displayed his decent capability of leading the side. Also, he could come to open the innings with Yashashvi Jaiswal, and under an experienced player, it will be a little easier for the team to gel into a good shape.