LEADER GILL GAINING TEAM'S CONFIDENCE

WHAT kind of a does captain Shubman Gill want to be? When he was asked this in the pre-match press conference ahead of the second Test, he said his team-mates would be in a better position to answer the query. "I don't know how to answer this," the six-Test skipper said.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN New Delf

He's still a fledgling when it comes to skippering the side but there's already enough body of work to suggest he's already growing into a leader the team will happily get behind. He's happy to back his players, give them a long rope and make short-term adjustments keeping in mind some of the longer-term dynamics.

Two examples stand out.

You can kind of argue that Nitish Kumar Reddy, set to play a second Test on the trot in India, may not necessarily figure in their strongest XI in these conditions. But the 26year-old wants to give the seam-bowling allrounder sufficient gametime now rather than just throwing him in the deep end in assignments away from home. "There have been conversations around that (playing a third seaming allrounder)," he said. "Especially in the next year and a half, we aren't playing a lot of games away from India. So, to be able to back a guy who can bowl 10-15 overs in a day and can bat as well... we saw how he batted in Australia so there is definitely a lot of potential and ability. We think it would be unfair on the guy if we are only playing him overseas because that doesn't really give him that much opportunity." He also came out in support of B Sai Sudharsan. "You have to give young players more opportunities," he said.