Former Indian cricket captain Anil Kumble expressed confidence in Shubman Gill‘s ability to lead the Indian Test team during a chat at an Australian Summer of Cricket 2025-26 event in Mumbai on Monday. The 25-year-old Shubman Gill is set to captain India in the upcoming five-match England tour, marking a transition phase following the Test retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Shubman Gill’s elevation to Test captaincy marks the beginning of a new era in Indian cricket, coming in the wake of Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the format. Taking from where Rohit Sharma left following his recent retirement announcement from India’s test cricket, the Men in White will now be led by Shubman Gill. BCCI named the 25-year-old young talent as India’s new Test cricket captain. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been selected as vice-captain for the upcoming five-match Test series against England.
The announcement, made on Saturday by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, marks a significant new chapter in Indian cricket. Shubman Gill becomes one of the youngest players to lead the Test side, with selectors expressing strong faith in his temperament and leadership potential.
However former Indian spinner Anil Kumble has expressed confidence at the same time some concerns regarding Shubman Gill’s selection as skipper of Indian test team to England
Former Indian spinner Anil Kumble is sceptical about Shubman Gill’s appointment as captain for Indian test team on English tour in 2025
Former India cricketer Anil Kumble has said that while he thought that ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah should have been the initial choice for captaincy against England, now that Shubman Gill has been named the skipper, the youngster has to ensure that he establishes himself as a potent overseas batter. Kumble feels that Shubman Gill has a big task ahead of himself because he has yet to cement himself as a batter in India’s Test side overseas.
Anil Kumble was hoping Bumrah would succeed Rohit Sharma as India’s Test skipper. The ace pacer was India’s vice-captain for the Test series in Australia and even led in Perth and Sydney, the two matches where Rohit was unavailable.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge. Initially, I thought Jasprit Bumrah would have been the automatic choice, but they must have a reason there. They would have probably spoken to him and maybe Jasprit is now looking at taking a break between matches,” Kumble said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo.
“Now that the selectors have taken a call on Shubman, they’ll have to stick with him for a while. Because he needs that kind of leeway as well. First, he has to establish himself as a batter because even in Australia, he didn’t play all the matches,” Kumble added.
Shubman Gill has led Punjab in one Ranji Trophy match, losing to Karnataka earlier this year, but has led in four more first-class matches, three Duleep Trophy games and India A in 2019. Anil Kumble addressed the unique challenges of leading the Indian national team compared to franchise cricket while discussing Gill’s appointment.
“As a captain, he has certainly shown signs. Of course, it’s a very different format. He has a calm head. He’s done all the right things for GT in the last couple of seasons as a captain,” Kumble said.
“So as a player, it hasn’t really affected him, at least in the white-ball formats. And to expect that to happen in Tests as well, there won’t be any issues with his batting just because he is captain,” Kumble added.
The legendary spinner acknowledged the significant change in Indian cricket’s landscape with the departure of three key players.
“Transition is bound to happen and with three pillars of Indian cricket, for a long period of time, not being available. It’s got to be different for us too, as fans too, when the Indian cricket team takes the ground in the first Test, not to see three names there,” he said.
Anil Kumble expressed optimism about the new era under Shubman Gill’s leadership.
“But it’s the start of a young team and it’s a new cycle of WTC, which I’m sure this current team would look to win and then get into that final and hopefully hold the trophy one day, so that’s something that I’m sure Shubman will try and create that kind of a legacy,” he added.
However, questions have been raised over his batting form in Tests, especially overseas. The 25-year-old averages a decent 35.05 in 32 Tests, but his average plummets to 14.67 in three Tests on English soil. Shubman Gill is currently captaining the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025 where his side has already made it to the Playoffs.
Post whatever happens in IPL Skipper Shubman Gill is expected to joing the India A squad for a practice game vs England Lions before the all important England tour which begins on June 20 at Leeds as Indian test team begins its new transition in a new era.
Also Read: ENG vs IND : Shubman Gill Appointed Test Skipper For Red Ball