"It was like 'Who was Virat Kohli?'" - Former captain's blunt criticism of Shubman Gill amid ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Former England captain Nasser Hussain recalled the overreaction around Shubman Gill after their Edgbaston victory in his criticism of the Indian skipper after the third day of the fourth Test at Manchester. Team India endured arguably their worst day of the series, with England piling on a massive 544/7 in response to India's 358.

Gill struggled as a captain with questionable tactics, including opening the bowling with Anshul Kamboj over Mohammed Siraj and not using Washington Sundar until the 69th over. The skipper's batting has also trended south after a red-hot start to the series, where he scored a double century and two centuries in the opening two Tests.

Gill has scored only 34 runs in his last three innings at an average of 11.33 since his Edgbaston heroics.

Talking about the young captain after the close of play on Day 3 of the Manchester Test, Hussain told Sky Sports (5:58):

"As a young Indian captain, there is no middle ground. When he was getting 260 (269) at Edgbaston and winning Test matches, it's all like 'Who was Virat Kohli? Who was Rohit Sharma? We've moved on; this generation has moved on. And then you have a couple of bad games, and the series starts going away from you, and then every decision is picked on."

He added:

"The key for him is to stay off his phone, stay off social media. You are a young learning captain. Learn from this experience, you are not the end product when you start. He has just got to make sure he learns from this experience."

Trailing 1-2 in the best-of-five series, India are on the brink with England leading by 186 runs and two days remaining in the fourth Test.

"Team management becomes crucial in helping someone like Shubman Gill" - Ravi Shastri

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri believes the management must step up and help Shubman Gill grow as captain in the first year of his stint. The 25-year-old became India's Test captain just a month before the England series after Rohit Sharma's stunning retirement from the long format.

"That's why the team management becomes crucial in helping someone like Shubman Gill over the first year and a half. Then he will learn. The senior players in the side have to start being accountable and be able to set their own fields and have their own ideas," said Shastri (via the aforementioned source).

He added:

"That should come from the bowlers as well, rather than the captain going and telling them. Those who have played 50-60 Tests should go to the captain and tell him, 'Listen, I need to take a wicket, I want to set this kind of field.' That's what Stokes does. He thinks about how he is going to disrupt things and finds ways of breaking partnerships."

Gill still boasts outstanding batting numbers for the series with 619 runs at an average of over 88 in seven innings.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran