R Ashwin has commended India’s new Test skipper Shubman Gill’s calmness and naturalness, especially in media interviews. After Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired, Gill became Test captain.
Gill, the IPL captain for Gujarat Titans and a successful Zimbabwean stand-in white-ball leader, was a natural choice for the team, which was in transition.
Many doubted his red-ball form abroad before the England series. His efforts in the first two Test matches against England answered all critics. Gill held a good press conference, R Ashwin said.
Shubman is naturally talented. Upon watching his news conference, I realised he was not acting. He speaks as himself. He leads the squad naturally and skilfully “YouTube video: R Ashwin.
The veteran spinner said the media, especially overseas, target the skipper to tear down the visiting team.
“On abroad tours, the media targets the captain because bringing him down makes it simple to bring down the team. “Go after the captain to make them fall like nine pins,” he said.
Many players are trained on speech and behaviour: R Ashwin
Ashwin noted that Gill is well-spoken and knows how to handle the media, unlike most players who are tutored.
Not to be taken out of context, but many athletes are tutored on what to say and do. Not so with Shubman Gill. He appears to be following his beliefs “Ashwin added.
Gill became the first Indian skipper to achieve a double century and 150 after scoring 147 at Headingley in the series opener and 269 and 161 at Edgbaston in the first and second innings, respectively. He’s scored 585 runs at 146.25 in the series.
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