The former Captain of England Blancball Eoin Morgan thinks that Shubman Gill is appointed the new test captain of India is a correct decision, saying that the right-hander is a natural leader who is not afraid of methodologies behind various decisions. On Saturday, the chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the appointment of Gill as 37th captain of India, and his first assignment in the role will be a five game tour in England, from June 20. Morgan had shared the locker room with Gill when the duo was together in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ for IPL 2020 and 2021 Seasons.
“The decision of captain of India is the right one. I played alongside Gill for two seasons at Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL and he is a natural leader. It does not bother to question the methodology,” said Morgan on the Sky Sports cricket before the game of the third day in the Trent Bridge test in England-Zimbabwe.
In terms of strikers, India gave a return to Karun Nair, while giving a first call to B Sai Sudharsan. But Morgan, who led England to the 2019 ODI World Cup at home, believes that the test tour will be baptism by fire for a New-Look Indian test team. When the series starts in Headingley on June 20, Gill will also become the fifth youngest player to direct India in tests.
“I think the first three in the range of strikers must be Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Kl Rahul, but they are spoiled for choice in terms of strikers. I make favorites from England, without any doubt, with the advantage at home and the journey on which they take place. It will be a difficult tour for India,” he added.
The former skipper Nasser Hussain felt that India still looked strong on paper despite the retirement of faithful players Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, although he pointed out that Gill did not obtain a strong record for strikers abroad.
“Well, I mean, nine months ago, if you put a likely team from India, you would probably have ravichandran ashwin in there, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma – three of the great Indian crickets. Well, they all retired, and with Rohit Retiring, you need a new captain.
“Shubman obtains this role, a great honor for him to be captain of India. Jasprit Bumrah was vice-captain, was captain in the past, but obviously with them saying that he may not play the five test games and his injury record, they look in the long term. He is a high class player.
“His assessment far from his home is not as good as at home. He is a recently captain in the IPL. I think he is a good choice, but as I said from the start, there are names that are missing there, and I think that for this reason, it is a very good opportunity for England. But don’t be mistaken, it’s a strong team.
“Whoever you bring, Karun Nair there, for his example, has not played test match cricket for eight years. The last time England saw it, he obtained a triple one against them and was prolific in first class cricket,” he said.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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