Shubman Gill relishing 'ultimate honour' of Test captaincy

Shubman Gill has said being appointed India's Test captain is the "ultimate honour" and that he aims to lead by example through performances on the field and through his "discipline and hard work" off it.

Gill, 25, will begin his tenure as captain with a five-Test series in England starting on June 20, also the beginning of the new World Test Championship cycle. As he leads a team going through a transition, Gill underlined the importance of understanding his team-mates to get the best out of them.

"As a captain, a leader should be able to know when to step in but also when to give space to the players, because everyone has kind of had a different life and grown up differently," Gill told BCCI.tv. "Everyone has a different personality, so a good leader should always be able to know what makes his players to be able to have the best performance or the best outcome.

"That is always exciting to be able to have those conversations with the players, to be able to know them on a deeper level than just cricket, because then you're really able to know what can get the best out of them."

Gill, who captained India during a T20I series in Zimbabwe last year, emphasised the importance of compartmentalising his roles as a batter and a leader.

"One of the things that I learned was if I'm a batsman, I'm batting out there. I want to be able to make decisions as a batsman and not as a captain," Gill said. "If I start thinking about other things, it just puts more pressure on me which is not required, because when you're batting out there, you want to be able to take those risks.

"You want to be able to make decisions that you would make when you are playing just as a batsman because that gives you the freedom. That is one of the things that I learned that when whenever I am batting out there, I just want to be able to make decisions as a batsman and not really want to think that I'm the captain."

Gill considers himself fortunate to have had the chance to learn leadership traits from his predecessors, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both of whom have now retired from Test cricket.

"When I was a kid, always inspired by the greats and the legends of Indian cricket and been very fortunate to be able to play with so many of them be it Virat bhai or Rohit bhai," he said. "Both were very contrasting in terms of their style, but it was very inspiring to see both of them working towards a common goal.

"You want to be able to win as a captain and your styles can be different, but they both were very different but also similar in their own sense. Virat bhai was always very aggressive, always wanting to lead from the front with hunger and passion whereas Rohit bhai was also aggressive, but you might not see that on their reaction or on their expressions, but he was also someone who was always very attacking on the field.

"Rohit bhai was someone who was very calm and tactically always very present. He's very communicative to the players, what he wants from the players and so these are the qualities that I learned from him.

"Guys like Rohit bhai, Virat bhai and Ashwin bhai, they have given us a blueprint on how to tour away from home and win matches and series. Yes, it's one thing to be able to deliver and execute but because we have that blueprint, we know how to tour away from home and win matches and series."

Looking ahead to the England tour, Gill was excited to take on the challenges of playing a five-Test series.

"My favourite series that I played was also a five-Test series when England came to India [in January-February 2024] and I think there's a different essence when you're playing a five-Test series," he said. "It's long, it's mentally and physically very challenging and I think that's the most exciting part about Test cricket because there are different areas and aspects that it challenges you at.

"It's not one-dimensional. There's a lot more things that go on in red-ball cricket and that's the most exciting thing … It's not going to be easy, but I think we're ready for any challenge."