IND vs WI Test series: Shubman Gill ticks all the boxes as captain, says Gambhir

For Shubman Gill to start his Test captaincy career on a five-match tour of England was a baptism by fire. He came through that stern challenge by producing phenomenal returns with the bat and managing a 2-2 series draw after a riveting climax at The Oval. Comparatively, a home series against West Indies was never going to be as demanding, but by ensuring a clean sweep and enhancing his batting average, Gill has done all that could be asked of him before this assignment.

“He has already passed his toughest test as captain. That was in England, five Tests away from home in tough conditions against a quality team,” head coach Gautam Gambhir told the media after India’s seven-wicket win on Tuesday (October 14, 2025). “I’ve told him to just be himself. No one has done him a favour by appointing him the Test or one-day captain. He deserves every bit of it. He ticks all the boxes.”

With Gill’s workload as an all-format star on the rise, Gambhir was asked whether the 26-year-old would need a mental conditioning coach to handle the taxing schedule. The former opener, who turned 44 on Tuesday (October 14, 2025), responded in a lighter vein: “First and foremost, I need one. He’s scoring runs. He’s in good space.”

The tenor of the media interaction changed when Gambhir hit out at former chief selector Kris Srikkanth for his insinuation of Harshit Rana being a “yes-man” to the coach. “Look, it’s extremely shameful,” Gambhir said of Srikkanth’s recent comments on his YouTube channel. “If for running your YouTube channel, you go after a 23-year-old, it is unfair. You can target people’s performance. But if you say such things about a 23-year-old kid, it’s not nice.”