NEW DELHI: When Shubman Gill will walk out for the toss alongside his opposition England captain Ben Stokes at the Headingley Stadium on June 20, it will be a new journey for him as a Test skipper. The five-Test series starting in Leeds also marks the beginning of a new era for Indian cricket, with Gill taking over as the new red-ball captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement.India’s last Test series win in England came in 2007 under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy. Prior to that, the team achieved historic triumphs in 1971 under Ajit Wadekar and in 1986 under Kapil Dev.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!With Gill set for the big task on his shoulders and that too in his maiden assignment, legendary Kapil Dev is confident of Gill-led India beating England and coming out with flying colours.Shubman has played just three Tests on English soil, scoring 88 runs at an average of 14.66.
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“Achha aur talented baccha hai [He’s a good and talented boy] – and now, the captain of the Indian team. I’m sure he will return with the trophy in hand. We feel very proud and wish them all the luck. I hope they come back victorious and play to their full potential,” Kapil Dev told TimesofIndia.com in an interview on the sidelines of an event organised by Three Sixty to commemorate his iconic unbeaten 175 during the 1983 World Cup match against Zimbabwe.
Stalwarts Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin are no longer part of India’s Test setup after a long time. All three have announced their retirements recently.From the old guard, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, who is the vice-captain, remain, providing a blend of experience alongside the new leadership group.Apart from these senior pros, there will be many new faces who will be playing in English conditions for the first time. Sai Sudharsan, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, Prasidh Krishna and Akash Deep are the names who will be eyeing impressive outing in unpredictable English conditions.
Kapil Dev urged not to call this side as ‘inexperienced’.“Today they may be inexperienced, but tomorrow they’ll be experienced. I have confidence in this bunch of players. They will do something special. I just want to say – just go out there and play. That’s it. Enjoy yourself, this is all I want to say to this Indian side,” the 1983 World Cup-winning captain said.On star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Kapil Dev said: “He’s one of the best bowlers in the world. He knows exactly what to do and how to get the job done. For me, the team is more important than anything else.”
