All eyes on new India captain Gill in England series

SHUBMAN Gill will be in the spotlight as a new-look India, without star batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, bid to end their 18-year wait for a Test series win in England.

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Gill succeeded Rohit as captain after the latter announced his retirement from Test cricket last month.

Just days later, Kohli said he was bowing out of red-ball internationals as well.

Gill also has the additional responsibility of filling Kohli’s shoes at No 4 in the batting order.

India vice-captain Rishabh Pant on Wednesday revealed that was where his new skipper would bat in the first of a five-Test series against England starting at Headingley today.

The 25-year-old Gill has a modest Test batting average of 35 in 32 matches, a figure that drops to 29 in away games, and declines even further to under 15 in three matches in England.

India’s No 4 position has been dominated during the past three decades by all-time batting great Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, who in that specific position scored 21,056 runs between them in 278 Tests.

Gill’s first challenge will be ensuring the demands of captaincy don’t detract from his batting in England, where India have won just three Test series — in 1971, 1986 and 2007.