Head coach Gautam Gambhir has lauded Shubman Gill’ for earning the dressing room’s respect and growing as a skipper by “saying and doing the right things” in his short captaincy career so far.
Gambhir’s comments came after India’s 2-0 Test series sweep over West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday. This victory marked Shubman Gill’s first home series win as Test captain.
Notably, Gill was appointed as India’s Test captain in May 2025 after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from the format. He was named ODI captain earlier this month, replacing Rohit ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup cycle. The 26-year-old Gill will start his ODI captaincy during the upcoming ODI tour of Australia, starting on October 19 in Perth.
Gautam Gambhir Opens Up On Shubman Gill’s Captaincy
During the post-match press conference, Gautam Gambhir was asked how he is managing Gill and the Indian head coach said that he is allowing the 26-year-old to be himself.
“(By) just allowing him to be himself. I think no one has done him a favour by appointing him the Test captain or (the) one-day captain. I think he deserves every bit of it,” Gambhir said.
“I think he’s worked hard. He has already passed his toughest test as captain — that was in England, five Tests away from home in tough conditions against a quality team. I know it’s tough for him…and I’ve said it many times, that England was probably the toughest Test for him.
Five Test matches over the course of two, two and a half months, against a quality England side. What more could he have faced?” he added, referring to the grueling 2-2 drawn series in England earlier in 2025, when every match was fought intensely, lasting the whole five days.
As a batter, Gill had a fantastic tour of England as he scored 754 runs in 5 matches and played many memorable knocks.
The 44-year-old Gambhir further mentioned that Gill has earned the respect of his teammates with his words as well as action.
“Sometimes we only keep talking about the captain, but the way the team has responded to him and to his leadership is equally important,” he said.
“You’ve got to give credit to the entire group in that dressing room. You do earn respect by scoring runs, but you also earn respect by saying the right things, and doing the right things.
“I think your actions should be more than any other thing, not just the performances. He’s done phenomenally well, and so has the group,” he added.
Gautam Gambhir Speaks About World Test Championship Prospects
Speaking about India’s overall prospects in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, Gautam Gambhir said he isn’t concerned right now about whether the team will make it to the 2027 final.
“For me, I am not looking ahead at what is going to happen in the World Test Championship final in 2027. That is still a long, long way away,” said Gambhir.
“I think staying in the present is very important. It was important for us to win this series at home. More importantly, I think we have got a very busy schedule. Hopefully, we can keep continuing from here,” he added.