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In a significant leadership shift, Shubman Gill has been appointed as the new red-ball captain of the Indian cricket team. The move comes at a time when Indian cricket is clearly charting a path towards youth and transition, and the upcoming Test series in England will serve as a litmus test for Gill's captaincy credentials.
With England also in a phase of transition, Sanjay Bangar believes the timing could not be better for India to assert dominance overseas. Former India batting coach and current JioStar expert Bangar weighed in on the importance of the England tour for Gill and Team India. "If this group of players manages to win a Test series in England, I think that's going to be a great start for his (Gill's) leadership tenure," Bangar said on JioHotstar. "The calls that have been taken will be vindicated if the tour goes India's way. I'm pretty hopeful that this will be a series wherein you win a couple of Test matches, and if the other side falters, you might just end up winning the series as well," he added. At 25, Gill has become one of the youngest players to hold the position in recent years. Though he lacks captaincy experience in the red-ball format, he has led India in a five-match T20I assignment in Zimbabwe in 2024. Gill has also been captaining the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Gill has also served as vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is. He was Rohit Sharma's deputy in India's victorious Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE in February 2025. In Test cricket, Gill has played 32 matches and scored 1,893 runs, including five centuries. India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)
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