Sachin Tendulkar felt Shubman Gill did well as Test captain in England, though he admitted the 2-2 series result could’ve been different.
India batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, on Tuesday, shared his verdict on Shubman Gill’s captaincy during the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where India held England to a 2-2 draw in the gruelling five-match series. It was Gill’s first assignment as India’s Test captain, following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the format in May, just weeks before the squad was announced for the tour.
Speaking in a video on Reddit, where he analysed various aspects of the series, Tendulkar said that while the result could have gone differently, he felt Gill did well in his debut captaincy stint.
“All in all, a fantastic result. 2-2, things could’ve been different, but there are no ifs and buts in cricket,” said Tendulkar.
The former India batter also highlighted how Gill constantly searched for ideas, tweaking his plans each time England built a solid partnership. He noted that Gill remained calm and composed under pressure.
“Captaincy has a lot to do with how the bowlers are bowling, how disciplined they are and how long they can persist with their plans,” said Tendulkar. “Sometimes what happens is that if things are not going the bowlers’ way, they start experimenting. That is when the captain feels that the fielders he has on the ground is not enough, he needs more, because runs will be coming from everywhere.
“He still looked calm and composed, but when partnerships happen, it becomes difficult for any captain, and the priority becomes to dry their runs.”
Overall, Tendulkar was impressed with how Gill silenced Bazball throughout the series and denied them a win at home.
“Overall I felt he controlled the team well. There were areas things could’ve been different but, everyone has their opinion. This was his first series and possibly against the most attacking side in Test cricket. I don’t think any other team bats the way this England side does,” he said.
Tendulkar also analysed Gill the batter, who went on to score 754 runs in 10 innings across the series – the most by an Indian captain in a single Test series in history and the second-most after Don Bradman’s 801 against Australia at home in 1937.
“Shubman batted brilliantly throughout the series, he looked calm and composed, organised,” said Tendulkar. “When it comes to quality batting, you’ve got to have a clear head and a game plan. And he was extemely consistent as far as his thought process is concerned because it reflects on your footwork. If you are not clear in your head, your body doesn’t respond accordingly. His body responded brilliantly, he looked so much control he had so much time to play the ball.
“There was precision in his footwork. The most important thing that I noticed was the respect to a good ball. Where the tendency sometimes is to push the ball on your front foot even if the ball is not near your foot, he was able to defend there. And consistently defend well on front foot. His ability to leave was very good. Overall, shot selection was very, very good and precise.”
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
