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LONDON: Shubman Gill will be in the spotlight as a new-look India, without star batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, bid to end their 18-year wait for a Test series win in England.
Gill succeeded Rohit as captain after the latter announced his retirement from Test cricket last month. Just days later, Kohli said he was bowing out of red-ball internationals as well.
Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has retired from Test cricket, while experienced Mohammed Shami, not fully fit following ankle surgery last year, has been omitted.
The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy will now be contested in all future Test series between England and India. Previously, the series in England was played for the Pataudi Trophy, while the series in India was for the Anthony De Mello Trophy.
The contest marks the start of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle and Gill also has the additional responsibility of filling Kohli’s shoes at number four in the batting order.
The 25-year-old Gill has a modest Test batting average of 35 in 32 matches, a figure that drops to 29 in away games and declines even further to under 15 in three matches in England.
India’s number four position has been dominated during the past three decades by all-time batting great Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, who in that specific position scored 21,056 runs between them in 278 Tests.
Gill’s first challenge will be ensuring the demands of captaincy don’t detract from his batting in England, where India have won just three Test series — in 1971, 1986 and 2007. He will have the ebullient Rishabh Pant to lean on after the wicketkeeper-batsman’s return from a life-threatening car crash in 2022, while opener Yashavsi Jaiswal is one of the game’s rising stars.
‘SERIES WIN IN ENGLAND BIGGER PRIZE THAN IPL’
Gill believes captaining India to a Test series victory in England would be a bigger achievement than winning the Indian Premier League.
Test cricket, for so long the pinnacle of the game, has to compete with T20 franchise leagues around the world and players have multiple commitments.
Gill, who won the IPL title with Gujarat Giants in 2022, still views Tests, and especially series wins outside of Asia, as the ultimate achievement.
“You don’t get many opportunities as a captain to be able to come to England — maybe two, if you’re the best of your generation, maybe three — and you get to have a crack at the IPL every year,” the batsman told a pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“In my opinion winning a Test series in England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are bigger.”
Gill did not reveal his team for the first Test at Headingley but confirmed he would step in to Kohli’s usual position of four in the batting order.
Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant are big-name players but Gill said less experienced members of the India squad were unburdened by past failures in England.
“A lot of people talk about us not having experience but there are positives that we don’t really have any baggage coming to England because not all of the players have been to England,” he said.
“That could be one thing that makes the difference for us because we won’t be carrying any baggage. We are all very motivated. “
It is not just in batting where must cope without stalwart performers.
Bumrah is arguably the best all-format bowler in world cricket at present but, following a back injury lay-off, the quick may only play in three of the five Tests given the tight schedule.
INDIA DANGEROUS WITHOUT VETERAN TRIO: STOKES
England captain Ben Stokes said the hosts expect a tough challenge from India in the forthcoming series, even as the tourists enter a transitional phase following the retirements of Rohit, Kohli and Ashwin.
“The pool of talent that Indian cricket has is just ginormous,” Stokes told reporters on Thursday. “[Rohit, Kohli and Ashwin are] three massive names, three people who have done wonderful things for their country, but it’s not going to be any easier for us because those three big names aren’t here.”
England have won 23 and lost 12 Tests under Stokes since he succeeded Joe Root as captain, and now begin a stretch with back-to-back series against India and Australia.
“We still want to be known as a team who play an exciting style of cricket,” Stokes said.
“[It’s] not that we never wanted to win every game that we played, but it’s changing what we say and how we say it. We want to be playing exciting games of cricket because we know that’s what brings the best out of individuals and us as a team. But it’s about winning.”
England have retained Ollie Pope over Jacob Bethell for the first Test at Headingley, with Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse also returning to the squad.
Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2025
