From the time Shubman Gill was named the captain, one wondered whether he would be able to make his voice heard in a dressing room which had a strong personality like Gautam Gambhir. Shubman Gill‘s start to the captaincy journey was nothing short of fairy tale as he slammed two tons and a double century. But then his and team’s form dipped.
It was a tough test for young captain Shubman Gill and his bowling group as England dominated proceedings with real authority on Day 3 of the fourth Test in Manchester. While India went down 2-1 before the fourth Test, they had been in the contest in every session of the first three matches. However, at Old Trafford, they were comfortably outplayed on Days 2 and 3, with England sending the Indian bowling unit on a leather hunt.
Shubman Gill’s captaincy weakness on field led to India’s downfall during bowling
The exclusion of Kuldeep Yadav, a genuine wicket-taking option, drew criticism at the start of the Test, especially as injuries to the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep led fans and pundits to wonder if India would finally hand their left-arm wrist-spinner a go in the series. However, India opted for the safer route by retaining batting depth and handing a debut to medium-pacer Anshul Kamboj, who replaced Akash Deep.
India felt the absence of a strike bowler when their attack was taken apart by Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley on Day 2. After being bowled out for 357—failing to convert starts into big knocks—the lack of firepower in the bowling line-up was exposed when the conditions began to favour the batters on Thursday and Friday.
Jasprit Bumrah looked lacklustre for the first time in the series, and Mohammed Siraj appeared fatigued, playing his fourth consecutive Test. Debutant Anshul, bowling military medium, struggled to trouble the England batters consistently, although he did claim the key wicket of Ben Duckett late on Day 2.
England raced to 225 for 2 at stumps on Thursday, scoring at over five runs per over. The dominant batting show continued on Friday morning as Joe Root and Ollie Pope made the most of a bright morning and a flat pitch. Bumrah and Siraj opened the day with hostile spells, bowling tight lines—unlike Thursday afternoon, where they had squandered the new ball.
However, Root and Pope weathered the storm and kept the scoreboard ticking by attacking Anshul and Ravindra Jadeja. Captain Gill showed little faith in Shardul Thakur despite having picked him as a bowling all-rounder.
What was even more baffling was India’s reluctance to use Washington Sundar, who had taken a four-wicket haul in the second innings of the previous Test at Lord’s. Sundar was not brought into the attack until the 69th over of England’s innings. Washington Sundar made an immediate impact, breaking a 144-run stand for the third wicket by removing a well-set Ollie Pope. He then claimed the big wicket of Harry Brook, having the World No. 1 batter stumped.
Sundar’s ability to strike twice in quick succession, along with the drift he was getting on Day 3, raised further questions about why captain Gill did not trust his Gujarat Titans teammate earlier. This Blunder in the field helped England raise a mammoth 669 in the first innings as they took a lead of 311 runs sending Team India into the submission. Following the Day Former English skipper Nasser Hussain spoke on Shubman Gill and his captaincy tactics throughout the series.
Nasser Hussain advised Shubman Gill to be an proactive skipper during the team selection going further
In this English tour , Shubman Gill is under scrutiny for his captaincy blunders on and off the field which is talked about more rather than his heroics with the bat on the field. However one should remember that this is just a starting chapter of Shubman Gill’s captaincy career and he should be given time to learn adjust and rectify his mistakes done as a captain in future tours .
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