Ravichandran Ashwin questions Shubman Gill’s captaincy amid 5th Test against England

Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reckons Shubman Gill will get better as a leader with more experience. The Anderson-Tendulkar series is Gill’s maiden assignment as India’s Test captain and he has done a decent job.

Ashwin questioned Gill’s captaincy after he once again introduced spin late on the fourth day of the fifth Test match against England. The former all-rounder believes Gill could have brought on a spinner when Harry Brook started playing with an aggressive approach before lunch.

Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja bowled four overs each on the fourth day’s play but went wicketless. Spin was introduced by Gill in the 43rd over of the innings when he gave the ball to Sundar.

“Why India are not ahead in this series and England are, is only because of our lack of game awareness and in many ways our tactical acumen on the field and off it as well. We haven’t been the sharpest. I think Shubman Gill is going to get better as a captain and will learn,” Ravichandran Ashwin said on ‘Ash ki Baat’. 

“Sometimes as a captain when you think you can play spin well, you will not bring on the spinner. And when you miss the moment to bring the spinner in the right situation, it then becomes a defensive option. When Harry Brook started taking it on, you could have bowled a spinner from one end and choked him. Spin should have come fast and this trick was missed in the last game as well,” he added.

Ashwin highlighted that India could not build pressure on England by stopping the run flow and thus could not take regular wickets.

“Such a big score on this pitch, it is a lot of runs. They find themselves in this hole because bowling to build pressure is a lost art. It’s not only for India, many teams are struggling. This is called defensive pressure building. Because of T20, we just look to take wickets. If you only bowl for wickets, you will give many runs. Wickets fall when you build pressure and a rhythm. Prasidh got the wicket because he got into a good rhythm and Siraj bowled a maiden over. We are not setting the right fields and bowling defensively at the right time,” he explained. 

England need 35 runs to win the final Test with four wickets in hand.