Shubman Gill has been appointed the new captain of India’s Test team. The announcement was made by Ajit Agarkar, India Men’s chairman of selectors, on Saturday even as unveiling the squad for the approaching five-Test series in England, slated to start in June. Rishabh Pant has been named as Gill’s deputy.
Agarkar clarified that Jasprit Bumrah, who has led India in Tests before, was not taken into consideration for captaincy as he is not likely to play all 5 matches in England due to workload management.
Shubman Gill New Test Captain
India’s 18-member squad for the England tour includes maiden Test call ups for Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh, alongside recalls for Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami, Sarfaraz Khan, Harshit Rana, and Devdutt Padikkal do not discover a place.
Gill’s elevation to Test captaincy marks the start of a new generation in Indian cricket, coming in the wake of Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the format. Alongside Rohit, who had led India that that February 2022, fellow stalwarts Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have also bid farewell to Tests since the begin of India’s remaining Test series.
5th Youngest Cricket Player to Be Captain
At 25 years and 258 days, Shubman Gill become 5th-youngest cricketer to captain India in Tests, behind Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (21 years, 77 days), Sachin Tendulkar (23 years, 169 days), Kapil Dev (24 years, 48 days), and Ravi Shastri (25 years, 229 days).
Though particularly inexperienced in red-ball captaincy, having led in only 5 top matches, including as soon as in the Ranji Trophy, Gill has proven promise as captain of the Gujarat Titans in IPL, guiding them to a playoff berth in his 2nd season in charge.
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