Shubman Gill’s captaincy came under scrutiny after India suffered a five-wicket defeat to England in the first Test at Leeds.
Concerns Mount Over Shubman Gill’s Captaincy After Debut Defeat
Shubman Gill’s first Test as India’s full-time captain has raised alarm bells—not just due to the loss, but the manner of the defeat. India failed to defend a fourth-innings target of 371, as England chased it down with relative ease, winning by five wickets. This has led to several former players questioning Gill’s leadership style, with some calling his tactics “reactive rather than assertive.”
On the Stick to Cricket show, David Lloyd voiced concerns about Gill’s decision-making and field presence. “The intrigue is with Shubman Gill, who’s a very inexperienced skipper. How’s he going to come back from that? He’s got Ravindra Jadeja and Karun Nair, who are in their 30s. So he’s got experience in his team. It’s great having a young team… But tactically he’s reactive rather than proactive,” Lloyd noted.
Former England captain Alastair Cook, however, struck a more understanding tone. Drawing parallels to Ben Stokes’ early captaincy struggles, he said, “When you take over a team, there will always be a phase when the team gets used to the new leader. This happened with Stokes—it took a while for England to adjust when he came in and said, ‘We’re going to try and smash every ball.’”
Kartik on Gill
Shubman Gill’s captaincy came under further scrutiny as former Indian spinner Murali Kartik pointed out visible disarray on the field during Day 5 of the Leeds Test. Kartik noted a lack of clear authority, with multiple players appearing to take charge simultaneously—something he believes undermined Gill’s leadership.
“At one point I felt there were too many captains,” Kartik remarked on Cricbuzz. “KL Rahul was making hand movements, Rishabh Pant was also doing it, and so was Shubman Gill, who is actually the man appointed as captain. I couldn’t understand those multiple hand signals. You wouldn’t want to complicate things. There is only one captain.”
He added that while minor adjustments by senior players are acceptable, the frequency and inconsistency of tactical directions during the match were problematic. “A senior player making slight changes here and there… that’s fine occasionally. But so many players taking calls so frequently is not a good sign,” Kartik warned.