Former India cricket team batting coach Sanjay Bangar has cautioned the selectors against picking Shubman Gill as the next Test captain. His remarks come amid speculations that the board has zeroed in on the Punjab batter to be Rohit Sharma’s successor. Bangar reckons that KL Rahul is the best man for the job, adding that Gill was too young.
“No question mark”
Bangar pointed out that Rahul had excelled in overseas conditions, claiming that there was no question mark on his abilities in a Test match. He further noted that the keeper-batter was young as well, and was likely to play in the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle entirely.
“He’s been a proven test battle, a lot of important runs at the top of the order for India. So he would play all the Test matches, and most of his hundreds or big scores have come in overseas matches. So there is no question mark on his ability in any conditions, for that matter. And he is young, he is not that old either. So when you are looking at a WTC cycle, it is a two-year cycle. I think Rahul at the moment is 31, 32. He can clearly play the entire cycle,” Bangar said.
Why not Gill?
Further, Bangar warned the BCCI against picking Shubman Gill, adding that he was still too young.He pointed out that Rahul had led the team in South Africa when Virat Kohli had stepped down as captain. He further reckoned that the BCCI should think about long-term after the next WTC cycle and that by that time, Gill would have established his credentials in a more solid manner.
“You would be mistaken if you were thinking really long term. Gill’s quite young. He’s got loads of cricket ahead of him, and he would also have attained that self-belief in his ability by doing well overseas. So that is a challenge for him to be doing that on a consistent basis. So he’s your long-term prospect, no doubt. But whether you want to elevate him immediately, I don’t really think that there is a reason to do that because you have KL Rahul,” he added.
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