India batting legend Sunil Gavaskar insisted that the Test playing XI selection should depend on skipper Shubman Gill’s choices and should not be interfered by other influences, including head coach Gautam Gambhir.
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.
Players like Kuldeep Yadav did not get a chance and one again wondered who was talking the calls over picking the XI. Amid this discussion, India conceded a huge lead to England in the fourth Test. And yet again, the captain-coach combination of the Indian team came up for discussion on Day 4 of the fourth Test.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, on Saturday, stirred the pot with his take on the Shubman Gill–Gautam Gambhir coach-captain dynamic. Gavaskar reminded the 25-year-old Shubman Gill that it is his team—not Gambhir’s—and that Gambhir’s say on selection must rest with the captain Shubman Gill.
Sunil Gavaskar takes a brutal dig at Shubman Gill’s captaincy
Following the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma earlier in May, many labelled the new-look Indian Test side as Gambhir’s team, even though the selectors had appointed Shubman Gill as the new Test captain. The situation raised a key question: does Shubman Gill truly have command in the dressing room, especially with the vastly experienced, two-time World Cup winner Gambhir in the mix.
On Day 4 of the must-win fourth Test in Manchester against England, part of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Sunil Gavaskar was asked point-blank whether this Indian team belongs to Gill’s or Gambhir’s generation. The legendary batter said he never faced such ambiguity during his captaincy days, largely because there was no head coach then. Instead, he sought inputs from managers or assistant managers, who were often former players themselves.
“We didn’t have coaches. We just had former players as managers or assistant managers of the team. They were the kind of people who you went up to and talked to, they gave you some advice at lunchtime or at the end of the day’s play or on the eve of the game,” Sunil Gavaskar told Sony Sports.
“So, it is difficult for me to get my head around the captain and the coach’s combination. When I was captain, we had nobody who was a former player. To be honest, we have Wing Commander Durrani, Raj Singh Dungarpur. The only time we had Erapalli Prassana, and he was great.”
However, Gavaskar admitted that it should ultimately be the captain who has the bigger say in selection matters, referring to cases like Kuldeep Yadav—who is yet to be picked for a match on the England tour—and Shardul Thakur, who was dropped after the series opener but returned for the Manchester Test following Nitish Kumar Reddy’s injury.
On Day 2 of the match when England halved India’s first-innings advantage by rapid knocks from openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, Gill entrusted Thakur with only five of the 46 overs bowled. Thakur ended up conceding 35 runs at 7 an over. Staggeringly between Days 3 and 4, Gill only used Thakur for six more overs. Of the total 157.1 overs sent down by the Indian bowlers, England racked up a mammoth 669 at 4.25 per over, the highest-ever Test total in Manchester. Thakur ended with figures 11-0-55-0 – sharing the least load of the six bowlers used.
“The point is that at the end of the day it’s a captain’s team, like Nasser said. You can’t say this, he didn’t want somebody, maybe in Shardul Thakur’s case or Kuldeep Yadav’s case – he should have had them in the team. He’s the captain. People are going to talk about him and his captaincy. So, it’s got to be his call really,” he added.
Sunil Gavaskar, however, took a subtle dig, hinting that not all selection calls may reflect the captain’s will, but are instead made to maintain a facade of unity.
“I know for the sake of the showing everything hunky dory these things might not come out. The fact is that captain is the one who is responsible. He is the one, who is going to be leading those.” he concluded
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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