The toughest challenge of Shubman Gill’s young career lies less than a week away, when he will take to the field at Headingley in Leeds as the captain of the Indian Test team, maybe one of the most high-pressure roles in international sports. While the Indian team has bid farewell to a lot of its senior figures, one relationship remains for Gill to take advantage of — that with his coach, Gautam Gambhir.
Speaking in a sit-down interview with Dinesh Karthik for Sky Cricket, Gill was asked how his experience has been under two very different coaches in Gambhir with the Indian national team over the last year, and under Ashish Nehra with Gujarat Titans in the IPL over the last 4 years.
“It’ll be very fun (to have someone as different as Gambhir as coach,)” explained Gill to Karthik. “Ashu pa (Nehra), as you said, is very hands-on, very animated, very expressive, in terms of his personality and your personality reflects on your coaching style as well, so he’s very expressive.”
“Whereas Gauti bhai is very determined, very committed, and he’s also very clear in his communications, what he wants from the players and what kind of mindset he would want the players to have,” continued the new Indian captain.
‘The paths might be different…’
While Gambhir has appeared to be a very intense coach throughout his tenure and also as mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders, Nehra has made an impression as the sort of coach who enjoys being right on the boundary’s edge and deeply involved with his players throughout a game, often to good effect in the IPL. Nevertheless, Gill said he enjoyed having two such distinct coaches, which only gives him a window into different avenues of creating a successful team.
“Gauti bhai, he focuses more on the attitude or mindset he requires from the team or the players. I think they’re very different personalities, but end of the day you’re all working towards a common goal. The paths might be different but you’re trying to reach the same destination,” said Gill.
With many questions hanging over whether Gill can quickly adapt to the unique demands of Test captaincy, there is no doubt that having access to two such experienced leaders will only be beneficial for his growth as one himself. Whether the Gambhir-Gill duo survives into the future will depend a lot on how they start off in England this summer.
