Shubman Gill "Helpless Captain": India Star's Condition Decoded After 1st Test Loss To England
India lost the first Test of the five-match series by 5 wickets to England in Leeds.
Former India player Mohammad Kaif heaped praises on Shubman Gill after the player led the team against England in the first Test in Leeds. While the result of the match didn't go in favour of India, Kaif was still impressed with the way Gill led the team and scored runs with the bat. The former India player liked the bowling rotations done by Gill but he felt that only Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja seemed to be the bowlers making an impact. He also termed Gill a "helpless captain" in context of the game.
"As a young captain, Gill did brilliantly by giving Bumrah 4-4 overs and rotating him well. He led better than Ben Stokes. Well done, thumbs up," said Kaif in a video on his YouTube channel.
In the first innings of India's bowling, Jasprit Bumrah stood out with figures of 5 for 83 on a surface that had no help for the bowlers. Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj too shared five wickets among them but leaked runs at economies of 6.40 nd 4.50.Â
"Helpless captain because he was playing with one and a half bowlers. One is Bumrah, and the remaining half is Jadeja. There was no support from Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, or Shardul Thakur. You can't win the Test match with 1.5 bowlers. He did captaincy very well and looked good to me. He used his resources well," said Kaif.
25-year-old Gill was appointed India Test captain after the retirement of Rohit Sharma from the format in May this year. He was under pressure but kicked off the five-match Test series against England with a solid knock of 147 in the first innings.
"I will praise him a lot because it was a big test for him in this series. It was important for him to score in England. Everyone said he doesn't know how to play in England, (you) made him captain, but hasn't scored runs. But he passed the Test with the bat, scored a century, excellent batting. Apart from captaincy, he showed he can deliver with the bat."
While the top-5 in India's batting order did a commendable job, those coming after them failed miserably. As a result, India ended up losing the game by 5 wickets.
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team
Jasprit Bumrah