Ricky Ponting on India’s decision to choose Shubman Gill captain, saying, “Leadership sits really well with him”

After Rohit Sharma retired from the game’s longest format, former Australia captain and icon Ricky Ponting revealed that Shubman Gill would take over as India’s new Test captain. Given that Jasprit Bumrah captained the team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–2025 in Rohit’s absence, Ponting praised the decision and acknowledged the reasons why many were opposing it.

According to the Australian, Bumrah’s ailments rendered him unable to serve as captain. Ricky Ponting thought it was the proper choice to choose Gill the Indian Test captain and wished the outstanding player well in his new position.

In fact, I believe it’s the appropriate thing to do. “I think it’s pretty simple,” Ricky Ponting stated in the ICC Review, “but I know there are a lot of other people out there, pundits out there saying they can’t understand why it wasn’t Bumrah and why they have gone to Shubman.”

“You don’t want a captain to be somewhat limited by injuries, which have been a problem for Bumrah in the past few years. I think it’s the proper choice because you can’t have a captain who occasionally shows up for games. Now that they have succeeded, they must continue to support him and give him a fair chance to succeed for a considerable amount of time,” Ponting continued.

Regarding Gill’s appointment as captain, Ricky Ponting said, “I think you’ll have a good captain who’ll make a lot of Test runs.”

The Australian pointed out that Gill’s performance against the Gujarat Titans in the IPL simply demonstrated his potential as a skipper. He believed that Gill’s IPL runs would give him the confidence he needed to hit runs in the game’s longest format.

“I believe he is a great leader, even based on how he has managed the Gujarat Titans, the current GT, squad throughout the IPL. For me, the most crucial aspect of leadership is that if you’re a captain and a batter, you must be scoring runs. “I think the timing is right, and you’ll have a good captain who’ll make a lot of Test runs going forward,” Ponting said, adding that Shubman is accomplishing that in the IPL.