Cumbyet, Shubman Gill needs to establish herself as a slope before the Indian Test Captain

Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma. These are some of India’s most successful and influential Test captains, and all of them have led the team in the 21st century. These legends are whom Shubman Gill will have to follow. It won’t be an easy task.

Yet to prove worth as Test batter

But they aren’t just good captains. They were great batters as well. MS Dhoni has the lowest average of them all, 38.09, but he batted at number 7 for most of his career and was a wicketkeeper. Gill can’t even match Dhoni when it comes to Test average at the moment. But he’s been handed the captaincy responsibility.

Former India captain Anil Kumble feels that selectors have trusted Gill and he should be backed as India’s Test skipper for a while. But before proving himself as a captain, he must prove his worth as a Test batter. So far, he hasn’t been able to do that.

“Now that the selectors have taken a call on Shubman, they’ll have to stick with him for a while. Because he needs that kind of leeway as well. First, he has to establish himself as a batter because even in Australia, he didn’t play all the matches,” Kumble told ESPNcricinfo.

Should translate white-ball success

The legendary leg spinner thinks that Gill has the potential to succeed. He’s shown that he can continue to perform at the same level despite being the Gujarat Titans’ captain. Yes, the format is different but Gill seems to have the temperament to succeed as a batter and captain.

“As a captain, he has certainly shown signs. Of course, it’s a very different format. He has a calm head. He’s done all the right things for GT in the last couple of seasons as a captain. So as a player, it hasn’t really affected him, at least in the white-ball formats. And to expect that to happen in Tests as well, there won’t be any issues with his batting just because he is captain,” Kumble added.