ENG vs IND 2025: Gary Kirsten opens up on one leadership quality of MS Dhoni that Shubman Gill must pick up    

Former India head coach Gary Kirsten has asserted that Shubman Gill has great potential to be a good captain. However, he added that Gill needs to develop great man management skills like MS Dhoni to succeed in the long term.

Gill was named India's new Test captain after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the red-ball format. Under his leadership, India have lost two Tests and won one of the three matches played during the ongoing tour of England. As a batter, the 25-year-old has flourished. In six innings, he has amassed 607 runs at an average of 101.16, with a career-best of 269.

In an interview with Rediff.com, Kirsten expressed confidence about Gill's growth as a leader. He also urged the batter to work on becoming a better man manager, something Dhoni excelled at. The former South African opener commented:

“Well, its early days. I think he's got great potential. Captaincy is a whole lot of things that you've got to put together. He's a great thinker in the game. He's a good player himself. But there's a whole bunch of things you've got to get right. And I think man management is going to play, like any leader. "Dhoni was an incredible man manager. If he can get that component of his leadership really fired up, I think he has all the credentials to become a great captain for India," the former India head coach went on to add.

Kirsten himself worked with Gill during his three-year stint as batting coach with Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL. Sharing his experience of working with the talented Indian batter, the former South African cricketer said:

"Shubman Gill, as an example in the IPL that I've worked with over the last three years, he's got a real understanding of his game and his technique. So it's good to have conversations with him around it, because I learned quite a bit around his game. So everyone's slightly different."

Gill was named GT captain after Hardik Pandya moved back to Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2024. The franchise failed to reach the playoffs last season. This year, they did much better, finishing third in the points table.

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Shubman Gill's over-aggressive tactics at Lord's questioned

A number of critics have raised questions on Gill's over-aggressive tactics in the Lord's Test against England. The Indian captain was seen having an animated conversation with England opener Zak Crawley over the latter's time-wasting tactics in the closing stages of Day 3. Both Gill and Crawley were seen pointing fingers at each other in an angry manner.

Significantly, the Indian captain looked tentative with the bat in both innings of the Lord's Test. He registered scores of 16 & 6 as India lost a close game by 22 runs. The fourth Test of the series begins in Manchester from Wednesday, July 23.

Edited by Renin Wilben Albert