As he grows accustomed to the intensely scrutinized role, India Test skipper Shubman Gill stated on Tuesday that he does not hesitate to make “bold decisions” to get the most out of his teammates.
Gill led the team to a 2-0 clean sweep of the West Indies after winning the second match in New Delhi on Tuesday by seven wickets. Gill’s first Test assignment as captain was the prestigious five-match away series against England, which finished in a 2-2 draw.
“I try to make the most probable decision in the given situation that we’re in that game. And sometimes you have to take a little bit of bold decisions and that X factor depending on which player can get you certain runs or can get you those wickets,” he said.
“I would say I am kind of getting used to it, managing all the players in this side,” when asked about his development as a leader, 26-year-old Gill responded.
“I enjoy responsibility. I like to be the guy out there and I do it my way. Being involved in some of the key decisions is something that I really like and I think it brings out the best in me. I think that’s what’s happening in my life.”
He dismissed accusations that the decision put the bowlers under unnecessary physical strain when asked about his feelings about asking the West Indies to follow-on in the second Test, stating that the circumstances warranted the action.
“We were around 300 runs ahead and the wicket was quite dead, so we thought even if we scored like 500 runs and we have to get 6 or 7 wickets on day 5, it could be a tough day for us, so that was the thought process,” he explained.
After smashing a hundred and fifty in the two games in the series, Gill claimed he had to divide his batting and captaincy responsibilities.
“Definitely, you need to separate the two when I’m going out there to bat. Batting is something that I’ve grown up doing since I was 3 or 4 years old. So when I go out there (to bat), I just want to make decisions as a batsman.
“The one thing that you always fight for is how can you make your team win a match. And as a batsman, when I’m going out there, that’s the only thought that I have.”
Regarding the promotion of seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Reddy to the number five spot in the batting order, he stated, “He didn’t really get to bowl any over in this match but we don’t want players to only play matches at overseas. That puts a lot of pressure on the players. We want to groom certain players that we think can help us win matches overseas because that’s been the challenge for us.”
