India received a defeat against England in the first-Test at Headingley when the home side chased down a massive total of 371 following which Shubman Gill’s captaincy came under scrutiny. There were several cricket experts who questioned his leadership and raised concerns. At the age of 25, Gill stepped up as the Test captain of India after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement.
Former India Pacer has urged to stay patient and highlighted that a captain’s job is quite hard. Pathan underlined that Gill requires time to get used to the leadership mantle and establish himself as a captain.
“There are a lot of talks about his captaincy and the bowling changes and everything. I think we need to give him time. Most importantly, first of all, he is a new captain. And he is captaining the side which is in a transition period. If you look at it, he doesn’t have the services of Mohammed Shami, he doesn’t have the services of Ravichandran Ashwin, he doesn’t have the services of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as far as the dressing room is concerned,” said Pathan in a select media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network.
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“Bumrah is not going to play all the matches. So, his hands are tied. So, that’s one thing. He is leading the side for the first time in the toughest tour of England. It’s a tough one. Not many sides go to England, let alone India. And they do really, really well. It’s a tough tour to actually captain the side for the first time. So, there are a lot of mistakes which happen during those 5-day matches,” he added.
“A lot of people talked about his authority. Authority will come with time. The good thing is he scored 100, which will make him comfortable as far as his form is concerned.
Once his form is certain, then he is able to make tough decisions,” said Pathan.
India will play their second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham and it will be starting from July 2.
