Shubman Gill poised to make history as captain in Headingley Test

LEEDS: The five-match Test series between India and England will begin on Friday at Headingley, giving Shubman Gill — who will be captaining in place of Rohit Sharma — a golden opportunity to make history and achieve a milestone as captain.

For India, the series marks not just a fresh challenge on English soil in absence of Virat Kohli and Sharma but also a new chapter in leadership, as 25-year-old Shubman Gill steps in to captain the side in place of the experienced Rohit Sharma.

The opening match will be Gill’s debut as Test captain — an opportunity that comes with both pressure and the chance to etch his name in the history books.

A victory at Headingley would make Gill only the third Indian captain to win a Test at this historic venue, following in the footsteps of Kapil Dev, who led India to triumph here in 1986, and Sourav Ganguly, who repeated the feat in 2002.

Even legendary captains MS Dhoni and Kohli were unable to secure a Test win for India at Headingley. India’s last outing at this ground, under Kohli’s leadership in 2021, ended in disappointment with a loss by an innings and 76 runs.

India have not won a Test series in England since 2007, and Gill now carries the responsibility of leading a new generation aiming to end that drought. A win in the opening Test would not only put India ahead in the series but also give Gill a captaincy milestone that has eluded some of India’s greatest leaders.

For the unversed, Gill became the fifth-youngest cricketer to captain India in Tests, behind legends like Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Sachin Tendulkar.

Although he lacks Test captaincy experience, Gill has shown leadership potential in the IPL, having led Gujarat Titans to the playoffs in his second season in charge.

With 32 Test matches under his belt since debuting in Australia in 2020-21, Gill has scored 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05. However, his away average of 27.53 indicates a potential challenge ahead in English conditions.

This series will mark Gill’s first full Test tour of England, although he has featured in the WTC finals in 2021 and 2023.

It is pertinent to mention that the five-match Test series between England and India is set to begin at Headingley, Leeds on June 20. The remaining matches are scheduled to take place at Edgbaston, Lord's, Old Trafford, and The Oval.

India squad for England Tests:

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, Akashdeep, Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav.