New Delhi: Veteran India spinner Amit Mishra believes Shubman Gill doesn’t deserve to be the captain of the Indian team as he has ‘no idea’ about captaincy yet. Mishra’s comments came on a podcast recently where he touched down on numerous controversial topics. When asked about Gill’s elevation to captaincy in the T20I series against Zimbabwe, Mishra shared a bold but honest take.
Speaking about Gill, Mishra said he would have never made the star batter India’s captain if he had a choice. The veteran spinner said he observed Gill during his maiden stint as captain of the Gujarat Titans (GT) in IPL 2024 earlier this year where he was struggling to lead the team. Mishra said Gill had no idea how to captain the team and appeared clueless.
“Mai Shubman ko captain nahi banaunga, kyon ki maine usey IPL me dekha, he doesn’t know ki captaincy kaise karna hai, uske paas captaincy ka idea hi nahi hai. (I would not have made him the captain. I have seen him in the IPL this season, he doesn’t know how to captain the side, he is clueless),” Mishra said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast on YouTube.
Gill led India in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in the absence of seniors. India thrashed Zimbabwe 4-1 in the series but Gill was criticised for not letting Abhishek Sharma open in the last three matches despite the left-hander smashing a stunning century in the 2nd T20I.
Gill’s captaincy also came under the scanner after Ruturaj Gaikwad was rested from the 5th and final T20I despite being one of the most consistent batters in the series. When asked why the Indian team management chose Gill to lead the team despite having Gaikwad in the side, who led India to a gold medal in the Asian Games last year, Mishra suggested the move was to give the opener some leadership experience.
“Just because he is a part of the Indian team, he shouldn’t be made the captain. Gill has done well in the IPL over the last few seasons, he did fine in the Indian team as well. The Indian team made him the captain as they want to give him the leadership experience, which wasn’t visible when he led Gujarat Titans in IPL,” Mishra added.
Amit Mishra suggests potential captains for India in T20Is
Mishra believes the likes of Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant and Gaikwad are better options than Gill to lead the Indian team in T20Is in the future. Both Pant and Gaikwad have already led India in the shortest format. however, Samson is yet to get a chance to captain the national team across any format.
“There’s Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Ruturaj Gaikwad who can lead India in T20Is. Right now, the BCCI is only looking to assess all options,” said Mishra.
With Rohit Sharma already retired, Hardik Pandya is likely to be appointed as India’s next T20I captain. Hardik is the frontrunner to replace Rohit ahead of India’s upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka which gets underway later this month.
Questioining Shubman Gill’s captaincy credentials, a former India spinner said the star batter looked clueless as a captain in the IPL and had no idea how to lead his team Gujarat Titans. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
