India captain Shubman Gill expressed immense pride in leading the national side, following India’s dominant 2-0 Test series victory over the West Indies. With this win, India solidified their place at third position in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025–27 standings, continuing their strong start under Gill’s leadership.
“Sometimes You Have to Take Bold Calls” – Gill on Captaincy Decisions
Reflecting on his captaincy experience, Gill said that leadership comes with the responsibility to make bold, tactical decisions at crucial moments. He discussed key moments from the series, including the decision to enforce the follow-on and manage workload across his bowlers.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂; 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕. 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒆. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.
Explaining the decision to enforce the follow-on, Gill stated that the pitch conditions played a vital role in their approach.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 300 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕. 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 500, 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒙 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒂𝒚 5 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
Gill also mentioned his long-term plans for young all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who didn’t get an opportunity to bowl in the final Test. “We don’t want players to feature only overseas. We’re grooming players we believe can win us matches abroad, as that’s been a challenge,” he added.
“As a Batter, My Focus Is on Helping India Win” – Gill on Balancing Roles
Gill clarified that while captaincy brings added responsibility, his focus as a batter remains singular — contributing to India’s victories.
“𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕, 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Looking ahead, Gill acknowledged the upcoming Australia tour as a major test of India’s depth and adaptability. The young skipper will lead India in the three-match ODI series, starting October 19 in Perth, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli making their much-awaited international returns. The ODIs will be followed by a five-match T20I series, where Suryakumar Yadav will take over the captaincy, with Gill serving as his deputy.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 — 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕,” 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇𝒇.
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