Shubman Gill kicked off his first day as India’s Test captain in style, scoring his sixth Test century against England on the first day of the match at Headingley. After Rohit Sharma retired, Gill stepped up to take on the captaincy. Despite some concerns about his past performance overseas, he quickly silenced critics by scoring only his second Test hundred outside of India. At 25 years and 285 days old, he became the fourth youngest player to hit a century in his first match as captain, following the likes of Herbie Taylor, Alastair Cook, and Steven Smith. He also joined the ranks of 23 players who have scored a hundred in their first innings as captain, and he is the fourth Indian to do so, after Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli.
Meanwhile, former cricketer Yograj Singh believes Gill has to set the pace for the team, just like Kapil Dev did during the 1983 World Cup. As India gears up for its match against England on Friday, Yograj is confident that Gill should aim high with his scoring and bring the team along. He thinks India can beat England and take the series win for the first time there since 2007.
Yograj mentioned, “I was chatting with Yuvraj Singh about Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill. Yuvraj said Shubman needs to lead from the front. He should aim to stay at the crease as long as possible. A captain’s runs are crucial. Shubman needs to set a target, whether that’s 100, 200, or 300. He should lead everyone forward, just like Kapil did back in the ’83 World Cup. I’m confident India will win the series.”
India is about to start a new chapter in Test cricket without its stalwarts Kohli and Rohit, both of whom retired last month. With fresh talent stepping in, the team is ready to adapt to the changes. They’ll also miss off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after his last match in Australia.