As India gears up for its first series in the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, former opener Aakash Chopra has offered some clear advice to newly appointed Test captain Shubman Gill. The young leader will guide the team through the challenging five-match Test series in England, starting June 20.
Focus on Building a Leadership Core
Chopra emphasized the importance of fostering a strong team culture under Gill’s captaincy. “Form a leadership group—bring 4–5 players together and build a core. Include Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj. Create a pack of wolves,” Chopra shared on JioHotstar.
“These are the guys who’ll be with you today, in six months, and five years down the line.”
He further explained that Gill has a rare opportunity with this young team to grow alongside his players. “With a young team, it’s important that the captain grows with the group. Seniors and juniors often have different routines and circles—but with this new-look team, you have a chance to build a collective culture. It’s a rare opportunity to create a bond and a story that the entire nation will be proud of,” Chopra added.
Learn From Kohli’s Hunger, Not His Batting Position
When asked about drawing inspiration from Virat Kohli’s Test success, Chopra cautioned Gill not to imitate Kohli’s entire approach blindly.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊’𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔, 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑—𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑺𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚, 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
He advised Gill to prioritize what benefits the team most:
“𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆—𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆. 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊’𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕, 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒇 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒐—𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎.”
Bowling Unit Key to Success in England
Chopra also addressed the pressure on Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir as they head into the England tour. He stressed the importance of selecting a bowling attack capable of claiming 20 wickets.
“There should be pressure, and it’s part of the job. When you’re representing India and carrying the hopes of 1.4 billion people, it comes with immense love—even from people who’ve never seen you but still pray for your success. But with that comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes pressure,” he remarked.
Echoing Gambhir’s view, Chopra added:
“𝑰 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒎 𝑮𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒉𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 20 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒚. 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅-𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 20 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆.”
Finally, he warned against the temptation of fielding an extra batter:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏—𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉. 𝑳𝒆𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏.”
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