‘It’s tough to fill gaps but there’s no different pressure as such,’ Shubman Gill on his debut away tour as India captain

Shubman Gill wants to keep his style of captaincy and relationship with his teammates transparent as he gears up to embrace a new journey as the Indian Test captain with an away tour of England starting June 20 in Leeds. Gill, 25, replaced Rohit Sharma, who announced his Test retirement midway through IPL 2025, becoming the country’s 37th Test skipper. With Rohit and Virat Kohli bowing out of red-ball cricket, Gill understands the need to fill their spots but takes no pressure in doing so.

Ahead of departing for England for the five-match Test series, Gill and all-format head coach Gautam Gambhir addressed the media. Answering one of the questions about taking the pressure to deliver on his maiden tour as the new Test captain, Gill said,

"There is pressure on every tour. It's tough to fill the gaps left by the experienced players who won us so many matches over the years. But there's no different pressure as such. There's pressure in every series, and all the players are used to playing and trying to win under pressure. I think the combination of batting and bowling in our team is a very good mix of experience and talent,” Gill remarked.

While the India-A squad was already in England as part of the scheduled shadow tour, which included two unofficial matches against England Lions and an intra-squad match with the Indian Test team, a handful of the Test squad players, including KL Rahul, linked up with them to prepare for the marquee series.

Since the remaining squad members have around two weeks to get ready for the first series of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, Gill feels a ten-day training camp in London, including the three-day intra-squad game, would help him formulate the best XI for the Leeds Test.

"We haven't really decided on the [batting order], we still have some time," Gill said. “We will be playing an intra-squad match [from June 13 to 16], and I think we will be having a 10-day camp in London. So we still have a little bit of time, and I think we can decide on the batting order once we go there.”

On England’s Bazball

England has deployed a certain brand of cricket, played over the eras and across formats, named Bazball, where they go all out against the opposition, leaving much for everyone to pick from. Though they failed to win in India with their formula the last time, they are upbeat about maintaining their winning streak at home against the Indians.

Speaking on Bazball and the idea behind tackling it, Gill said, "Yes, they play a certain way. I think we saw that when they came to India as well. But I think it's very exciting for us, it gives us an opportunity, and I think it's a great challenge. If we are very proactive with our execution and if we are proactive with our plans, I think it would put them under pressure immensely."