Onus on Gill to pick up the pieces and lift Team India’s morale

As shadows lengthened on day one of the first Test between India and England in Leeds, Shubman Gill would have been a pleased man. His side had reached a comfortable 359 for three and the captain had helped himself to 127 immaculate, unbeaten runs.

But fortune, as they say, has this uncanny knack of running out without forewarning, and over the subsequent four days, India slumped to a demoralising five-wicket defeat after having once had England by the scruff of the neck.

As the second Test begins at Edgbaston here from Wednesday, Gill has the arduous task of picking up the pieces and lifting the morale of a side that is also in the midst of a generational transition.

Gill’s situation is eerily similar to that of Virat Kohli. In August 2015, in his first full-fledged Test series as skipper, Kohli’s India fell to a crushing 63-run loss versus Sri Lanka in the opening tie in Galle.

The star batter had scored a first-innings century too but could only watch as Angelo Mathews’ outfit broke out of the handcuffs and landed a fourth-innings knock-out punch. But Kohli won the next two matches, and thus the series. Gill will be hoping for a redux.

The fact that Gill led from the front with his batting like Kohli had back then should help. The 147-run knock in Headingley was the 25-year-old’s sixth Test hundred, second abroad and only the first outside the subcontinent.

It’s not like he needed the runs for his aura to build and words to be heeded to but a performing captain commands respect. Also, India no longer has Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and Gill, now at the No. 4 slot, is the fulcrum.

“He [Gill] was phenomenal,” said coach Gautam Gambhir after Leeds. “Importantly, the way he batted in the first innings… I am sure he would have had his nerves. But being the captain for the first time and then getting a 100…”

For Gill, the expectations will be for this confidence to spill over into his captaincy. He was satisfactory on debut, though there was a tinge of predictability to his bowling changes and a reactionary feel to his fielding placements. He will also have to plan for two contests sans lynchpin Jasprit Bumrah.

“He has everything that it takes to be a successful captain,” Gambhir insisted. “But we have to give him time. These are still very early days and these are tough places to captain. It’s like putting someone in the deep sea. I am sure he is going to come out as a proper professional.”

Speedster Prasidh Krishna, who played under Gill at Gujarat Titans in the 2025 Indian Premier League, was effusive in his praise too.

“He did a pretty good job,” the 29-year-old said. “All of us saw how he rotated the bowlers, ensured everybody had enough breaks and brought people in at the right times. He created a good atmosphere.” More of the same in the second Test can potentially revive India.