Shubman Gill reveals father Lakhwinder's reaction on being named India Test captain: 'Don’t even think he dreamt...'

Shubman Gill is set for his maiden assignment as India Test captain after being appointed Rohit Sharma’s successor in the role last month . And the fact that the 25-year-old is starting his tenure with a five-match Test series in England makes the situation akin to being thrown into the deep end of the pool – where he will have to find a way to stay afloat or drown.

Less than a week before the marquee series gets underway at Headingley, Gill sat down with former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik on Sky Sports, reflecting on what captaining the Indian team in Test cricket meant for him and his family.

Gill reveals father Lakhwinder’s reaction to being named Test captain

The Gujarat Titans skipper also revealed that not even his father Lakhwinder, who played a major role in shaping his cricketing skills at an early age , had dreamt of him leading the Indian team in the elite five-day format.

“Honestly, DK bhai, I don’t even think he dreamt of me being the Indian Test captain, like, even myself as well. All I remember when I was young, when I was a kid, I just wanted to play for India, and I wanted to perform for India, and I wanted to win matches. It was like, not even in my dreams, I thought, ‘Oh, I wanted to be the captain of the Indian cricket team.’

“All my dream was to be able to represent India and perform and win matches for India. So, yeah, he called me when the news broke out, I think a couple of days before, but I knew sometime before, but I didn’t break it to him because I was like, ‘When it’s official, I’ll tell him then.’ But we had a very heartfelt conversation once he got to know that I’ve been named the captain,” Gill told Karthik.

Gill, who had led a second-string Indian team in a five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe last year, has some major shoes to fill in the format. He will also be under pressure to ensure India remains a force to be reckoned with in the Test format both home and away – especially in SENA nations – something that the team had made great strides in during Virat Kohli’s reign as captain.

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The top-order batter, however, added that he is not facing any pressure from head coach Gautam Gambhir as well as chief selector Ajit Agarkar ahead of his debut series as Test captain.

“The expectations, I mean, I’ve had this conversation, I think, numerous times with ‘Gauti Bhai’ and ‘Ajit Bhai’; they just want me to be able to express myself as a leader. And there are; I mean, that’s what they have told me. There are no expectations they do. They are not expecting me to, you know, to do something that I’m not capable of.

“So in terms of that, I don’t think from them there are any expectations, or there is any pressure, but you definitely have some kind of expectations from yourself as a leader and as a player. So those are the expectations that I have from myself, but it’s not so much from them,” Gill added.