Despite Leeds Defeat, Captain Shubman Gill Earns Strong Endorsements: 'He Led Better Than Ben Stokes'

Shubman Gill had a worrisome start to his Test captaincy career. England handed India a crushing five-wicket defeat at Headingley in the first match of the five-match Test series.

The Leeds Test also marked the start of the new World Test Championship cycle. Gill shone bright with the bat in the first innings as he brought up his first hundred in the SENA countries with a dominating display. It appeared Gill could lead Team India to a victory as the visitors set up a 371-run target for the home side. But Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett led from the front and put together a handsome 188-run partnership.

Mohammad Kaif Praises Shubman Gill's Captaincy

Despite five centuries by the Indian batters, they went on to lose their grasp on the game. But Mohammad Kaif feels Shubman did a fine job on his debut Test match as a captain.

He said on his YouTube channel, “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,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

“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. 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."

Also Read: IND vs ENG: Sunil Gavaskar Wants Kuldeep Yadav to Play Ahead of Shardul Thakur in Second Test at Birmingham

Jasprit Bumrah Admitted He Turned Down India Captaincy

Following the retirement of Rohit Sharma from Test cricket, there were a lot of speculations regarding his successor. Jasprit Bumrah led India to a historical Test victory in Perth and also captained India in the Sydney Test. Later, the Indian fast bowler revealed he had a conversation with the BCCI and turned down the opportunity to lead India due to his workload management. The 31-year-old took a five-wicket haul in the first innings but is very unlikely to feature in all five Test matches this time.

Also Read: Michael Vaughan Warns England Against Rushing Jofra Archer After Leeds Triumph: 'Hasn't Played Longer Format For 4 Years'