Shubman Gill has taken his Test batting to the next level in the ongoing England tour.
Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik opened up on the conversation he had with Virat Kohli before the start of the Edgbaston Test in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Karthik revealed the chat with Kohli was all about how Test captaincy brought the best out of him as a batter.
"I met him a few days ago and we were just chatting generally. And this topic about captaincy came up," Karthik said on the Sky Cricket podcast.
"And he said, you know, people think I'm a great Test cricketer and I enjoyed my Test batting — which I did. But the fact is that me getting my captaincy was the best thing to happen to my batting," he added.
Karthik then drew a parallel with Shubman Gill, who expressed a similar sentiment about prioritizing the team’s needs over individual performance after becoming captain.
"Why I'm saying that is the same line was used by Shubman Gill as well," said Karthik. "He said, I used to bat differently. But now, after I've got captaincy, I almost, when I'm batting, think this is what my team requires — rather than me wanting to do something individually as a batter — which I thought, wow.
"Now, this is something the world of cricket has to take notice of, because here's a man who has the appetite, who has the skill, who's got the technique.
"But now he's got the mindset as well that says, I'm a captain. I'm going to lead from the front, lead off the front foot. And we saw that in the last Test match.
"I'm sure there are going to be a lot more Test matches for us to observe him. But it looks like he's on the right path."
The five-Test series currently stands level at 1-1, with the third match scheduled at Lord's, starting from Thursday (July 10).