A new era in Indian cricket has begun with Gill’s promotion to captain, following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the game. In addition to Rohit, who has been India’s captain since February 2022, other legends Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have also said goodbye to Test cricket.
After 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), Gill is now the fifth-youngest cricketer to captain India in Test matches at the age of 25 years and 258 days.
Gill has demonstrated promise as captain of the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), leading them to a playoff berth in his second season as manager, despite his relative inexperience as a red-ball skipper, having led in just five first-class matches, including one in the Ranji Trophy.
“We obviously discussed every option that’s there. Over the last year or so, we have looked at Shubman at various times, even when we played England last year,” said head coach Ajit Agarkar. “We are hopeful we have picked the right guy. He’s a terrific player and best wishes to him.”
Although Agarkar did not specify Gill’s batting position, India has included players who can bat at No. 3 or No. 4, such as Karun Nair, who last participated in a Test match in 2017 and was included following a successful domestic campaign, and the uncapped Sudharsan. Abhimanyu Easwaran is listed as the reserve, while KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal continue to be the starting openers. This excludes Devdutt Padikkal, who batted at number three in the Perth Test earlier this year.
Shardul Thakur is also being recalled because of his all-around skills, which should be useful in English conditions. Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Nitish Reddy are among the other all-round players he joins. Returning as the only frontline spinner is Kuldeep Yadav, who was deemed unfit for the Australia tour.
Mohammed Shami was not taken into consideration for selection, according to Agarkar, since the medical team advised that he was not yet ready to handle the demands of Test bowling. Regular in India’s white-ball teams, Arshdeep Singh has been called up for the Tests and will support a pace assault that includes Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep and is captained by Jasprit Bumrah. Not mentioned was Harshit Rana, who played in two Test matches in Australia.
