India's newly appointed skipper, Shubman Gill, has come a long way as a leader. In the three Tests against England so far, Gill has shown sides of himself that were hidden from the general public. The manner in which the skipper fought for his team against England players, his attempt to unnerve the opposition, and his energy on the field left quite a few surprised. While many relate Gill's emerging personality to Virat Kohli, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar is hoping the current captain isn't doing these things just for attention.
"If somebody wants to build a brand by saying, we are Indians, we are not less than anyone. That (The thought process) gets a lot of attention and mileage. I hope Shubman Gill wasn't doing it for that," Manjrekar said in a chat on JioHotstar.
Gill was expected to offer a different style of captaincy, but the 'prince' of Indian cricket seems to have learned a lot from one of his predecessors Virat Kohli. Manjrekar never objected a Kohli's style as he felt such aggression came naturally to him. However, the former India batter feels that might not be the case with Gill.
"What Virat Kohli did was second nature to him. His cricket and batting used to get enhanced by that. Shubman Gill, I'm not sure whether this (aggression) comes naturally to him. If Virat Kohli had come out to bat, he would have looked into the face of those people and gotten a hundred. But if you looked at Shubman Gill's body language, the man who has almost batted like Bradman, was so tentative. The way he batted in those 9 balls seemed like he had gotten a pair. That is a clear message to me that aggression may not be his natural demeanour or approach," he added.
Gill's on-field altercation with England opener Zak Crawley remained a big talking point throughout the match. Some even suggest that it was this act by the India skipper that drove England to prove themselves. As a result, India now find themselves 1-2 behind in the 5-match series.