Gill in comparison with Virat Kohli as captain, defensive method criticized

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar drew a parallel between Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli as a young Test captain. The Punjab batter, who led India in the ENG vs IND 1st Test as Rohit Sharma’s successor, faced a defeat on his very first assignment. While it is no easy task to lead the team in England, Manjrekar reckoned that Gill could have perhaps taken a leaf out of Kohli’s book.

Gill not Kohli?

Speaking on the broadcast following India’s 5-wicket loss in Leeds, Manjrekar reckoned that a young captain Kohli wouldn’t have set a defensive field unlike how Gill did. He said that Virat might have exuded confidence by setting an attacking field, irrespective of what the results could have been.

“I hate to bring Kohli as a comparison, as Gill is a young captain, but he would not have put such a defensive field. That’s different from someone like Virat Kohli, who might say: We have enough runs, I’ll get you all out before Tea. Whether he would have gotten wickets with an attacking field is not guaranteed, but he would have been at it,” Manjrekar said.

However, Manjrekar urged fans to be patient with the new captain, stating that he doesn’t want to be too critical of Gill. He suggested that India could have opted for a standard field at the start of Jadeja’s spelll. Manjrekar reckoned that Gill should have started with an attacking intent instead of going defensive.

“Gill doesn’t have the same seam attack as England-though they don’t have Bumrah but English team has more all-round options. Even with Jadeja, I felt India should’ve started with a standard field rather than pre-empting reverse sweeps. You want to start with attacking intent-even if only for a few overs-before going defensive. That said, I don’t want to be overly critical of Shubman. He’s a new captain, and we should be understanding of that,” he added.