When Shubman Gill was named India’s Test captain prior to the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir recalled his first encounter with the batter. In the five-match series, India returned with a promising 2-2 tie, giving Gill’s time as red-ball captain a strong start.
According to Gambhir, he had informed Gill early on that his future as a Test captain could go either way.
Gill was given the captaincy instead of more seasoned players who had occasionally captained the squad in the past, such Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul. Due to workload concerns, Gill had to manage Bumrah’s limited availability while leading a squad in transition during the England tour, which was a big challenge. India overcame these obstacles to secure historic victories at Edgbaston and The Oval, which gave them a solid platform for the 2025–27 World Test Championship (WTC) campaign.
“I recall every word of the conversation. I made it very apparent to him that we had cast him into the deep sea, and that his only options were to either perish or rise to the top of the sport. The roughly 750 [754] runs he scored in England don’t really matter to me. Gambhir stated on JioHotstar, “That is his quality; if he hadn’t scored those in that tour, he would have scored it in the next tour.”
The way a 25-year-old youngster with a young squad handled himself and his captaincy, as well as the strain he was under against a top-tier England team, was what I found important. Regardless of whether he serves as captain for ten, fifteen, or two years, I don’t believe he will face a more challenging test than that. In light of England’s formidable batting and our team’s lack of experience, I don’t believe any Indian skipper has faced such a test in as long as two months,” Gambhir continued.
The former Indian opener recalls informing Gill that he could now look forward to less difficult matches in the future because the most difficult series was now over.
“After we won at The Oval, I informed him that he had just completed his hardest test in the transition and that things would get much easier from now on. He has now passed his most challenging test.” Since he deserves all of it, I hope that things grow better for him. It has been unjust how much criticism he has received and the types of remarks made against him. A 25-year-old child cannot be expected to score consistently across the board and have an average of 50. Only time will bring about that. Given his potential, I wasn’t surprised when he amassed 750 runs in England, Gambhir remarked.
During the England tour, Gill had to handle a number of tense situations and off-field difficulties as all five games went to the fifth day. The trip was filled with several instances of sledging and heated arguments, and the 26-year-old got into a significant on-field fight with Zak Crawley during the third Test at Lord’s.
“There were times when the support staff and I were under strain, and he [Gill] was under more pressure on the pitch than the rest of us. “But I don’t think so,” Gambhir said, “since I didn’t see a single instance of him displaying that pressure or irritation on his face during those 25 days.
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