He is wise beyond his years: Kane Williamson lavishes ultimate praise on Shubman Gills captaincy
Former New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson hailed Shubman Gill's captaincy, calling the Indian skipper wise beyond his age.
Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson hailed Shubman Gill's captaincy, stating that the Indian Test skipper is wise beyond his years. Williamson, who spent time with Gill in the Gujarat Titans (GT) dressing room during his stint franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), revealed he always felt the star batter had the attributes in him to become a good leader.
Gill took over from Rohit Sharma as India's captain in Test cricket ahead of the ongoing series against England after the former India captain announced his retirement from the longest format. Gill has had a decent start to his captaincy stint as India have produced a fight in England despite being 2-1 down in the series after three matches.
"He's responded beautifully, hasn't he? I always thought captaincy sits well with Shubman. I know that happening in a franchise space is slightly different; it's a shorter sort of project versus captaining your country, which is a lot more consuming. Watching Shubman operate and he's wise beyond his years, and that responsibility is naturally something that he would look to take on,” Williamson was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
Under Gill's captaincy, India lost the first Test against England by 5 wickets in Leeds despite coming close. In the second Test, Gill led from the front with 430 runs across two innings to help India bounce back and level the series 1-1 at Edgbaston. It was also a historic win for the visitors as they clinched their maiden Test victory at the venue.
India lost the third Test against England at Lord's despite doing well for most of the game. The visitors suffered a 22-run defeat in the Test match after failing to chase down a moderate target of 193 runs in their second innings. Nonetheless, Gill has shown early signs of a good leader who can be moulded into a great captain in the future.
Gill enjoying stellar run with the bat
When the Indian team management and the selectors decided to appoint Gill as captain, many had questioned his poor record overseas and raised concerns about his batting being affected due to the captaincy burden. However, Gill has put the doubts to rest with his remarkable show with the bat in the ongoing Test series against England.
The Indian skipper is enjoying a stellar run in the series with a staggering 607 runs in just three matches, the most by any Indian batter in a Test series against England. Gill also shattered the record for the most runs by an Indian in a Test match after smashing 430 runs in the 2nd Test at Edgbaston.
However, the Indian skipper could only manage 22 runs in the recently concluded third Test at Lord's and will be hoping to bounce back among the runs in the upcoming 4th Test against England. The 4th Test between the two teams is set to get underway at Old Trafford in Manchester on July 23.