Image: Did Shubman Gill cope with the role of captain of the Indian team? / © ESPNcricinfo
The new World Test Championship cycle also brought in a fresh start for the Indian cricket team under the captaincy of Shubman Gill. With legends like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin retiring from the format, Captain Gill had a lot of challenges ahead of him in the England tour.
But he was able to fight against them with his courage, as India played well in the first Test match at Headingley. The team lost by 5 wickets, despite 5 centuries scored by players. It was still a great start by the captain, who is young and new.
Following the loss, Shubman Gill has been under the radar for some decisions he took, which didn’t come in the team’s favour. On the other hand, he also made some great decisions which helped the Indian line-up to a great extent. Let’s assess the decisions taken by Captain Gill in the first Test match, which might’ve played a part in the team’s loss.
The first issue that the Indian team faced in the Test match against England was regarding the players’ selection for the playing XI. Although the squad was filled with players where most of them do not have any experience against England, it can still be said that a few players were outlooked for the first match.
| Player | Role |
|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Batter |
| KL Rahul | WK-Batter |
| Sai Sudharsan | Batter |
| Shubman Gill (C) | Batter |
| Rishabh Pant (WK) | WK-Batter |
| Karun Nair | Batter |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Bowling Allrounder |
| Shardul Thakur | Bowling Allrounder |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler |
| Mohammed Siraj | Bowler |
| Prasidh Krishna | Bowler |
Sai Sudharsan was picked by the selectors to play at the number 3 spot for the team. Generally, players who come to bat at this position are looking forward to removing the pressure that the team holds after losing a wicket. Since Sudharsan was a new player making his debut, he had much more pressure. England took its advantage and dismissed him for a duck in the first innings and 30 in the second innings.
Sudharsan’s failure to make an impact with the bat, where all the top-order players were able to score well, created some serious questions. Cricket enthusiasts and critics also say that Abhimanyu Easwaran could have been a better option for the team instead of Sudharsan.
Sai Sudharsan has played just 30 First-class matches and scored 1987 runs at an average of 38.96, with 7 centuries and 5 half-centuries. But on the other hand, Abhimanyu Easwaran has played 103 matches and scored 7841 runs at an average of 48.70, with 27 centuries and 31 half-centuries. Easwaran surely holds more experience than Sudharsan in the red-ball format.
| Player | Matches | Innings | Not Out | Runs | High Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abhimanyu Easwaran | 103 | 177 | 16 | 7841 | 233 | 48.70 | 54.12 | 27 | 31 |
| Sai Sudharsan | 30 | 51 | 0 | 1987 | 213 | 38.96 | 55.10 | 7 | 5 |
Moreover, in the two test matches played against England Lions ahead of the series, Easwaran showcased some great performances. He scored 167 runs in 2 matches with 2 half-centuries, getting a better idea of the English conditions. But he was not given a chance by the team management, as the management plays a major role in team selection.
Along with that, Shardul Thakur was picked in the team ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy. Shardul made his comeback to the Test format after a long time, while Nitish was already a part of the previous Test series against Australia, which India had played. As a result, Thakur scored just 1 & 4 runs respectively, and took just 2 wickets in the second innings.
Taking him as another bowling option, he bowled just 16 overs combined in both innings, as his economy rates were much higher. On the other hand, Nitish Kumar Reddy gave some top-notch performances against Australia, where he scored 298 runs in 5 matches at an average of 37.25, and even took 5 wickets at an average of 38.
Jasprit Bumrah has been the backbone of the Indian bowling line-up over the past few years, but sometimes the captains have relied too much on him or too little. But the question remains, did Shubman Gill use Bumrah well in the first Test match against England or not?
In the first innings, he bowled 25 overs and was the team’s highest wicket-taker, with 5 wickets. Surely not even a single batsman will be able to keep Bumrah away from the game, and he showcased his skills with the ball. However, it should also be noted that he will be available to play just three Test matches in the series, and one of them is already completed.
| Innings | Overs | Runs | Maidens | Wickets | Average | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 24.4 | 83 | 5 | 5 | 16.60 | 3.36 |
| 2nd | 19 | 57 | 3 | 0 | – | 3.00 |
With Bumrah bowling more overs in the first innings, he bowled just 19 overs in the second innings, conceding 57 runs. Along with that, it should be noted that Bumrah failed to take any wickets against the English batsmen while they were chasing. Having bowled more than 40 overs, he surely did make an impact in the first innings, but not in the second innings.
The question also remains whether Bumrah’s bowling 40+ overs is justified or not, knowing his fitness concerns. In almost every session of the game, he started with his spells for a few overs before the spell was given to other bowlers, such as Prasidh Krishna or Shardul Thakur. However, he returned during the last few overs of the session to bowl again and try to take wickets before the session came to an end.
Several fans also called it a luck factor for the English batsmen as they were able to tackle Bumrah well while chasing. A number of his deliveries went past the edge, but didn’t touch the same, which frustrated the bowler even more. His line and length were maintained perfectly, due to which Bumrah also went as the most economical bowler for the Indian team in this match.
Shubman Gill, being the new captain of the team, showcased his leadership skills at their best. Gill was leading the team from the front, contributing with the bat, setting the required traps to take wickets, and much more. In the stump mic also, he was seen communicating with the players.
He asked them about the field setups and much more, setting the needed fields that could help him dismiss the batsmen. In between the overs, he talked with the bowlers and other experienced players, asking about what should be done and taking advice from the senior players.
Not only contribute to the field, Gill also led the team’s batting line-up from the front. Coming down to bat at number 4, a place which Virat Kohli held for a long time, Gill showcased his stellar performances. In the first innings, he was able to score 147 runs for the team, which surely did play an important role in helping India reach the score of 471.
His shot selection was also at its best, which helped the captain to create a stable partnership with Rishabh Pant, the vice-captain of the team. After making a century in the first innings, he also joined the Elite list of Indian captains who made a century in their first Test match as a captain, joining players such as Virat Kohli, Vijay Hazare, and many more.
However, he was not able to contribute well with the bat in the second innings, falling at a low score. Still, the team’s batting line-up was stable with its top order, as Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul went on to score well. If the lower-order batsmen could have been able to scored well, the chances of India winning the match against England would also have increased.
Although India lost the match, the fact that Shubman Gill mostly made accurate decisions with the field cannot be denied. He set the needed fields to dismiss the batsmen on various occasions, but the main issue came with the accuracy of the fielders with the catches.
India missed a good number of opportunities in both innings, giving multiple chances to the English batsmen. In the first innings, Ben Duckett was first dropped at 15, and he went on to score 62; Ollie Pope was dropped on 60, and he went on to score 106; Harry Brook was also dropped on 46 and 83, while he went on to score 99 runs.
These missed chances allowed the English batsmen not to repeat the mistakes they had made, as they got another lifeline from the Indian team. It is true that the catches win matches, but dropping them would also drop the game, which happened with India in the first match. Another issue was no-balls, as Bumrah took the wicket of Harry Brook when he was standing at 0, but it was a front-foot no-ball.
This moment gave Harry Brook an opportunity to score well, and he was later given two more chances due to the dropped catches. Even in the second innings, the field placement was questioned, as Gill set some players to the boundary lines in the majority of the overs, allowing England to take some easy singles.
Shubman Gill made some good and bad decisions for the team in his captaincy debut in the Test format. But it is expected that Captain Gill will learn from his mistakes to help India dominate on English soil.