Gill is a mix of Rohit, Virat as captain: Buttler
Mumbai: India's new Test captain Shubman Gill is a mix of his predecessors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli but he will be 'very much his own man' in the middle when he leads the national side in the eagerly-awaited five-Test series against England starting on Friday, feels Jos Buttler.
Buttler, the former England limited-overs captain who played under Gill in this year's IPL, said the 25-year-old will need to find a balance between his captaincy role and his own batting.
'He's a really impressive player ,' Buttler said on his podcast 'For The Love of Cricket' alongside former England pacer Stuart Broad.
'He's pretty calm and measured when he speaks, but (it's) interesting, I feel like on the field he's got a bit of fight about him; a bit of intensity, quite passionate. I think he'll be a mix of Kohli and Rohit.
'Kohli (was) that sort of real aggressive (character), really transformed the Indian team, in your face, up for the contest. Rohit was a bit on the other side, a bit more laid back, very cool, calm, collected customer, but with that sort of fight,' he added.
Buttler expects Gill to 'be a bit in the middle'.
'He's obviously learned from those two guys… but he'll be very much his own man.'
Buttler said the job of captaining India in Test cricket is like being a 'third or fourth-most influential people' in the country
'He talked about compartmentalising batting and captaining; so when he's batting he just wants to be a batter, and then he will try and work on his captaincy and try and separate the two roles,' he said.
'I don't think we can quite understand the level of interest and the stardom that these guys have. You see it around the IPL, you're aware of it, but actually living that yourself... I think they say the Indian Test captain is like the third or fourth-most influential person in India, behind the Prime Minister, so you really are put up on that pedestal.
Buttler said 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi's 38-ball 101 for Rajasthan Royals against Gujarat Titans, which was the second-fastest IPL ton and fastest for any Indian in T20 cricket, was both 'inspiring and deflating'.
'This guy is (about) 20 years younger than me, and he is just smashing us all around the park. Absolutely (sent) shockwaves throughout the cricket world,' he said.
'...the first ball, he gave himself a bit of room and smacked it over wide long on for a six... that fearlessness. I love these guys out there; there are so many brilliant players. They almost want to make a statement as in 'look at me'.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
12 minutes ago
- India Today
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma break world record with stellar partnership vs England
India batters Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana etched their name in the history books with a stellar opening stand during the first T20I against England on Saturday, June 28 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The duo got involved in a massive 77-run stand for the first wicket after England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt won the toss and opted to bat was the 21st fifty-plus stand between the Indian duo, the most by any pair in women's T20Is surpassing Australia's Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney, who have 20 such partnerships to their name. Mandhana and Verma have collectively scored 2713 runs from 78 innings at an average of 36.17 with three hundreds and 15 fifties to their vs IND-W 1st T20I Updates The duo began the partnership in emphatic fashion as Smriti Mandhana got off the mark on just the second ball with a classy cover drive against Lauren Bell. The India stand-in captain further added two more boundaries to her tally in the second over. At the other end, Verma, who was making a comeback to the Indian team after eight months, collected her first four against Lauren opening batter also survived an early blow as she used DRS to overturn an on-field call after she was ruled caught out by the umpire despite the ball hitting her helmet instead of the bat. After getting the reprieve, Verma further collected another boundary on the last ball of the no time both batters launched an all-out attack against the England bowlers. Mandhana brought up the half-century stand off 37 balls as she welcomed Sophie Ecclestone into the attack with a massive six. The India captain further hit her for a boundary and a six to collect 19 runs from the over, the most Ecclestone has conceded in a single brought up her 31st half century off 27 balls as she cut Alice Capsey for a boundary through point. However, at the other end, Verma failed to capitalize on her start and was dismissed for 20 (22), caught at mid-off by Ecclestone.- EndsMust Watch
News18
18 minutes ago
- News18
Bumrah & Shardul OUT, Kuldeep IN? India's Likely Playing XI For 2nd England Test
Last Updated: The second Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and England will be played at Edgbaston from July 2 to 6. The second Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and England will be played from July 2 to 6 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. After losing the series opener in Leeds by five wickets, India would like to come up with a big show in the second match and level the series. According to reports in Indian media, star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss the second Test as part of his workload management. Bumrah, who is the world's No. 1 Test bowler, was India's best bowler in the series opener. He picked up five wickets in the first innings. In addition to Bumrah, Shardul Thakur is also likely to lose his place in the playing XI. Shardul bowled only six overs for India in the first innings and failed to impress with his batting as well. One out of Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep is likely to replace Bumrah for the second Test. Akash Deep has played seven Tests for India so far, whereas Arshdeep is yet to make his red-ball debut. The left-arm pacer from Punjab is a regular member of India's white-ball teams and also has played county cricket in England. As Shardul's replacement, the team management will have a choice to make between Nitish Kumar Reddy and Kuldeep Yadav. Nitish played all five Tests against Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and in addition to his batting, he can contribute with the ball as well, whereas Kuldeep is India's specialist spinner. Many former greats and experts of the game have batted for Kuldeep's selection in India's playing XI for the second red-ball match in Edgbaston. As far as batting is concerned, Indian team management is unlikely to make any change. As many as four batters—Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant—scored five centuries for India in the first Test, and there will be expectations of a similar performance from them in the second match as well. Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair failed to do much with the bat in Leeds, but they are unlikely to lose their place after just one match. As far as the England team is concerned, Jofra Archer was added to the squad for the second Test on Thursday, and he could make his much-awaited Test return in Edgbaston. First Published: June 26, 2025, 21:11 IST
Indian Express
20 minutes ago
- Indian Express
I'll be disappointed if Gill doesn't go places: Ravi Shastri
Shubman Gill, as the captain of the Indian Test side, has lost the first game by five wickets against England at Leeds in Headingly. Taking the reins in the absence of experienced veterans like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Gill has been handed over a stern first assignment to play a five-match Test series against England. Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri, despite the disappointment in the first Test, it would be a surprise if Gill does not go places in a few years. 'I'll be disappointed if Gill doesn't go places. Languid, lazy elegance, and he's got a regal element of being regal out there when he's batting. If he can learn with exposure and adapt to conditions, I think that's the one name I can see,' he said, speaking to 'He's matured a lot. The way he handles the media, the way he talks at press conferences, at tosses, he's matured a lot. Let him be there for three years. Don't chop and change irrespective of what happens in the series. Stick with him for three years and I think he will deliver for you,' the former India head coach reckoned.' Shastri added. With India claiming 38.5% of ICC's total revenue share for the 2024-27 cycle, former player Shastri defended the decision saying India should get an even bigger share considering their contribution to the cricket body's revenue. 'I would want more because most of the money that's generated comes from India. So it's only fair that they get their share of pound of flesh. It's relative, it's economies, if tomorrow there might be another economy that's stronger. Money might come from there like it did in the 70s, 80s and the chunk of the money went somewhere else. So I think it's only fair and, it just shows in the revenues,' Shastri said on Wisden. 'When India travel, look at the television rights, look at the television income that comes for an India series. So it's only fair that they get. Whatever they're getting now, if not more,' he added.
