Shubman Gill the captain: Not remote controlled but leading in his own way

Indian Express

12 hours ago

On the final day of the second Test, when Shubman Gill ambled onto the field after the rain-delayed late lunch, India were four wickets away from their first-ever win at Edgbaston and a 1-1 series scoreline. There was heavy cloud cover and there was talk that rains had reached the city's outskirts. After a few overs, 12th man Arshdeep Singh came sprinting onto the field. Was he carrying a message for the captain? No, it was just a warm jumper for Shubman as it was getting chilly.
It was a cute moment that somewhat captured the captain-coach dynamics in Indian cricket's new era. When Shubman showed the spark as the Gujarat Titans captain in IPL, there was the perennial presence of coach Ashish Nehra on the sidelines. It created doubts about who was calling the shots or making the crucial call. Here in England, the early indications show that the 25-year-old captain has a mind of his own. And the only remote control in the dressing room is the one that commands the television.
As for the coach Gautam Gambhir, he hasn't been over-interfering in the proceedings on the field. For long periods of stand-offs where wickets have been hard to come by, the captain has been changing fields, bowlers and tactics without any obvious prompt from the dressing room. When Shubman is batting, the substitutes haven't randomly run on the field with gloves or when the team is fielding, carrying unasked for water bottles.
Captain Gill speaks. The statement win speaks louder. 🎙
A proud Shubman Gill reflects on a historic comeback, his first win as Test captain, and Team India's hunger to go all the way. 💪🏽#ENGvIND 👉 3rd TEST, THU, JULY 10, 2:30 PM onwards on JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/kpxM1TFEJH
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 6, 2025
Shubman does his thing, the way he likes. He does have counsel available on the field. Vice-captain Pant, seniors KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, and even Mohammed Siraj, too chip in – when asked for and even offer unsolicited advice. As the pundits from the commentators box, especially while assessing the new captain during the first Test have said 'Shubman is running the team by committee'.
So if someone fumbles on field, Pant can be heard saying 'kya yaar'. In the first Test, when a disappointed Bumrah was walking back after yet another brilliant over in which a catch was dropped, the wicket-keeper would walk with him almost till the boundary line. Team's veteran spinner Jadeja would be seen explaining the pivot to Washington Sundar as the two would be walking to the central square after lunch break. And Siraj, while pointing to the mini-crater on the bowling crease, would be heard telling Akash Deep 'isko dimag se nikal de, ab hai toh hai, kya kar satke hain. (Just wipe this thing out of your mind, if it's there, what can one do?)'.
The young captain individually, and the new team collectively, are negotiating the uncharted terrain they all find themselves on. And credit to the coaches – Gautam Gambhir and Morne Morkel along with the chairman of the selection committee Ajit Agarkar who haven't tried to micro-manage the team. It's being said that it was the captain who had a big say in the team selection – keeping Kuldeep Yadav out for an all-rounder wasn't a decision forced on the captain. It was his call.
In the first Test at Headingley, the team's only pace all-rounder Shardul Thakur was introduced in the attack pretty late. This despite the fact that others weren't getting wickets. Coach Gambhir would later say that it was the captain's call and he didn't mind it.
In the first inning of the second Test, Shubman, for a brief while, stuck to a very rigid 'leg-side heavy field, short-ball' ploy when Harry Brook and Jamie Smith were at the start of their partnership. It didn't work, actually it helped them settle and score freely.
India's first-ever Test win at Edgbaston ✅
First Asian team to win a Test at Edgbaston ✅
First Test win for Shubman Gill as captain ✅#TeamIndia defeated #England by 336 runs at Edgbaston in a dominant display of Test cricket brilliance. 🤩
Watch the post-presentation LIVE… pic.twitter.com/bsmi7sB9zQ
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 6, 2025
Bowling coach, the former South African pacer Morne Morkel, hinted that he wasn't on the same page as the captain. 'I thought we moved slightly away from our plans in the first innings, and in a way also with runs on the board you want to take a couple of more risks … For me personally on this sort of surface, you want to set a field where you can still have both options: using the short ball and try to nick a guy off,' he would say. But he did appreciate his captain's thought to find his own solution to the problem at hand. 'Credit to Shubman, he took a gamble for a couple of overs to potentially get a wicket.'
After getting his Man of the Match award for his aggregate of 430 runs in the second Test, Shubman spoke about his captaincy philosophy. Before the second Test, he had blamed his own casual dismissal after scoring 147 as the reason for the team's loss in the first Test. 'I should have scored more, a longer partnership with Pant would have made a difference,' he had said.
In the very next Test, Shubman didn't leave it for others. He stayed around to take the team to the total he wanted. He had his reasons to lead by example. 'Sometimes, especially when you are the captain, I think you need to lead by example so that whenever there is another player in that situation, you can command that player,' he said. This was a captain subtly asserting himself, this was a skipper earning the right to be the 'commander'. Former England captain Nasser Hussain, who had noted during the first Test that Gill 'lacked aura' would reassess his verdict at the end of second Test: 'He (Gill) is not going to be a Kohli-type character. He's got a low heartbeat, but that can help. Look at this crowd here today. Look at all of India watching on. You may need someone just to calm the team.'
While he has just led in two Tests, in IPL there are those who have seen him closely for the entire season. Former England captain, the seasoned Jos Butler is seen as the voice of reason. In a recent podcast he was asked to comment on the young man he played under.
'He was my captain at Gujarat Titans, a really impressive player, an impressive young man. I think pretty calm and measured when he speaks. I think he's got a bit of firepower, a bit of intensity, quite passionate … He will do well and have some good people supporting him,' he said.
Butler also said Shubman's captaincy was a mix of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – a quote that got picked by reel makers and went viral. But Shubman, it seems, is a mix of Shubman and Shubman.