India’s Test squad for the England tour in June was announced earlier today. Shubman Gill has been officially announced as the captain of the Indian team. It’s an incredible honour for the 25-year-old from Punjab’s Fazilka.
The legendary Bishan Singh Bedi was the previous men’s cricketer from Punjab to lead India in Tests. The late cricketer’s captaincy reign ended on November 19, 1978. Shubman Gill is set to make history after almost 45 years.
Shubman Gill has a huge responsibility to carry on the legacy, especially of the three full-time captains to lead India before him.
Big three legacy
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni were the three full-time captains to lead India in Tests before Gill. Let’s have a look at some key numbers comparing Gill’s journey with the three greats.
Matches played before becoming Captain
Shubman Gill will make his captaincy debut in his 33rd Test match.
Rohit Sharma – 44th match
Note: 1. MS Dhoni made his captaincy debut in his 29th match due to an injury to Anil Kumble. He became the full-time captain in his 33rd match.
2. Virat Kohli made his captaincy debut in his 30th match due to an injury to MS Dhoni. He became the full-time captain in India’s final Test against Australia in 2014-15.
Performance before becoming Captain
Shubman Gill averages 35.1 in his Test career. Rohit Sharma had a significantly higher average at the time of his captaincy debut. It’s also due to the higher number of matches he played before becoming the captain.
39.5 (before captaincy debut)
44.4 (before full-time captaincy)
33.8 (before captaincy debut)
35.9 (before full-time captaincy)
Performance as captain
This is the most important part. Sachin Tendulkar’s batting numbers during his captaincy took a dip and that was one of the reasons for him to quit the captaincy. Virat Kohli on the other hand took his batting to a higher level after becoming captain. Rohit Sharma’s numbers took a big dent during his captaincy period.
| Player | Average as captain | Average as non captain |
|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli | 54.8 | 37.4 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 51.4 | 54.2 |
| Rahul Dravid | 44.5 | 54.1 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 37.7 | 45.2 |
| MS Dhoni | 40.6 | 33.1 |
| Rohit Sharma | 30.6 | 46.9 |
| Shubman Gill | ??? | 35.1 |
Interesting times ahead for Indian cricket and Shubman Gill.
India tour of England, 2025
The selectors have announced a 18-member squad with a new skipper at the helm. 25-year-old Shubman Gill has been appointed as the captain with 27-year-old Rishabh Pant as his deputy.
India’s squad:
Batters: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel (WK)
Pace bowling all-rounders: Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur
Spin bowling all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar
Specialist spinner: Kuldeep Yadav
Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh
Series schedule:
First Test: Leeds, June 20 – 24
Second Test: Birmingham, July 2 – 6
Third Test: Lord’s (London), July 10 – 14
Fourth Test: Manchester, July 23 – 27
Fifth Test: The Oval (London), July 31 – August 4
