'He led better than Ben Stokes': Former India all-rounder makes big statement about Shubman Gill's captaincy

Shubman Gill’s first Test as India captain ended in a disappointing loss at Headingley, where England beat them by 5 wickets . However, former India all-rounder Mohammad Kaif has praised Gill’s leadership and went as far as to say that the India youngster led the team better than England captain Ben Stokes.

Kaif blamed the loss on Indian bowlers, saying that Gill didn’t receive any support from them apart from Jasprit Bumrah and a bit from Ravindra Jadeja. He said that Gill performed his captaincy duty well and used the team resources in the right manner.

Bumrah picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings but went wicketless in the second. India failed to defend a 371-run target in the final innings as bowled failed to take all 10 wickets. Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur took two wickets each, while Jadeja picked up one, but by then, the damage had already been inflicted by England’s Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley.

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Kaif says Gill did better than Stokes

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif said, “As a young captain, Gill did brilliantly by giving Bumrah 4-4 overs and rotating him well. He led better than Ben Stokes. Well done, thumbs up."

“Helpless captain because he was playing with one and a half bowlers. One is Bumrah, and the remaining half is Jadeja. There was no support from Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, or Shardul. You can’t win the Test match with 1.5 bowlers. He did captaincy very well and looked good to me. He used his resources well,” he added.

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Meanwhile, Gill impressed with the bat, scoring a fine century (147) in the first innings. Kaif pointed that out as another major positive. “I will praise him a lot because it was a big Test for him in this series. It was important for him to score in England. Everyone said he doesn’t know how to play in England, [you] made him captain, but hasn’t scored runs. But he passed the Test with the bat, scored a century, excellent batting. Apart from captaincy, he showed he can deliver with the bat,” he added.

The second Test match is scheduled to begin on 2 July in Birmingham, and all eyes will be on Gill to see if he can inspire a comeback.