Shubman Gill has been named the new Test skipper as India embark on a new WTC cycle with the tour of England, starting June 20 in Leeds.
India’s Test captaincy post was vacant after Rohit Sharma’s sudden retirement from the longest format of the game last month.
Even though Jasprit Bumrah had led India in a couple of Test matches in Rohit’s absence during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25, the selectors put their faith on Gill for the leadership role.
Considering the added responsibility of captaincy, Australian legend Ricky Ponting has offered a few suggestions to Shubman Gill ahead of the England tour.
According to Ponting, Gill has work to do on his Test match batting and he should move himself down to No. 4 in the order.
There is plenty of speculations over India's new No. 4 following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Ponting has backed Gill to take up that position.
"His white ball form has been incredibly good. He's got a little bit of work to do, on his Test match batting. And that's never easy when you're a new captain, to have to worry about your batting to the degree that he's going to have to, it won't be easy for him," Ponting told PTI on the sidelines of the IPL where he coached Punjab Kings to the final.
Ponting supported Indian selectors’ decision to invest in Gill the captain. "I actually named him as captain for the Sydney Test match last summer when Rohit didn't play that game and there was a bit of an injury cloud over Bumrah, or as that game went on, Bumrah actually broke down in that game.
"And look, I don't know Shubman that well. I've spoken to him six, eight, 10 times, maybe the last couple of years around different things and around batting and around leadership. He's done a great job with GT (Gujarat Titans), no doubt about that," he said.
"But he just seemed the sort of guy that the extra responsibility wouldn't faze too much. It seems like he's got a really level head on his shoulders. He's someone that's going to be around in Indian cricket for another 10 years."
Since making his Test debut in 2020, Shubman Gill has played 32 matches, scoring 1893 runs at an average of 35.05. However, his numbers aren’t quite impressive in overseas conditions.
So far, the classy right-hander has amassed 559 runs in 13 Tests across SENA countries and the West Indies, averaging just 25 with only two half-centuries in 24 innings.
Ponting feels Gill needs to work on the mental side of Test match batting. "...it's a bit both, there's some of the great Test players that haven't had great defensive games, (Virender) Sehwag is probably a great example of that.
"But if you're in control of your stroke-play, you don't have to worry too much about your defence. I mean, obviously it's (defence) a big part of Test match cricket, but I think it's more his mental application," he explained.
Ponting said he sees no technical fault in Gill's defence. "(But) I think sometimes you might just get a little bit either ahead of himself or a little bit lazy in the middle of a test match innings. You can't afford to do that. You've got to be 100 per cent committed to every ball that you face through six or seven hours of every day... I think that's the challenge for Shubman..."
Ponting wants Gill to bat at No. 4 for a number of reasons. "...the reason I did that was if they go with (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and if Sai Sudarshan is the other opener, they need someone a bit more experienced at number three. So that could be either, KL at three, or that could be a Karun Nair at three and Shubman at four.
"...once you grow into it, then you can move yourself back up to that number three spot," he remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)
