Chopra Urges Patience with Gill’s Captaincy Journey
Former Indian batter and cricket analyst Aakash Chopra has come out in support of Shubman Gill, urging fans and media to temper their expectations as the young star navigates his early days as India’s Test captain. After India drew the five-match Test series 2-2 against England, many comparisons were drawn between Gill and legendary skipper Virat Kohli — a sentiment Chopra believes is premature.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑯𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 25. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍. “𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕, 𝑫𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒊, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅.”
Gill, who has long been considered a generational talent, stepped into the leadership role with high expectations already weighing on his shoulders — especially as he bats at the crucial No. 4 position, a slot once owned by Kohli himself. Chopra highlighted that such parallels are inevitable, but should not be a reason to criticize every move.
“𝑰𝒇 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑺𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏,” 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Gill’s Player Selection Decisions Backed by Chopra
Another key aspect addressed by Chopra was Gill’s team selection choices, particularly the decision to go with a deeper batting lineup rather than include an extra specialist bowler like Kuldeep Yadav. While some critics felt Gill could’ve been bolder, Chopra offered a balanced perspective.
“𝑰𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝑲𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑵𝒐. 3, 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒕’𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝑵𝒐. 6,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
While acknowledging that there was room for bolder calls, Chopra sympathized with Gill’s cautious approach given the circumstances.
Despite the captaincy debates, Gill silenced many critics with his batting performance, topping the run charts with a phenomenal 754 runs in 10 innings. His consistency was crucial in India’s effort to retain the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, capped off with a nerve-wracking six-run win at The Oval in the final Test.
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