Ashwin praised Shubman Gill‘s press conference and leadership.
Shubman Gill: Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin praised the new Indian Test captain Shubman Gill. He has described Gill as a calm and easy-going person. Ashwin especially praised his behavior with the media. Ever since former captain Rohit Sharma and star player Virat Kohli retired from Tests, the Test team had to find a new captain.
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Shubman Gill was already considered a strong contender for the captaincy, before that he has successfully captained the Indian team as the IPL captain of Gujarat Titans and on the Zimbabwe tour.
Before the start of the England series, many people had questioned Gill’s red-ball form on foreign soil. However, his brilliant performance in the first two Tests against England gave a befitting reply to the critics. Ashwin praised Gill’s press conference style.
Ashwin praised on his YouTube channel
Ashwin also praised Shubman for being natural in the press conference. He said on his YouTube channel- “Shubman has an amazing talent of playing. I was watching his press conference and immediately realized that he is not pretending. He is talking as he is. He is leading the team according to his understanding and skill.”
Ashwin also emphasized that on foreign tours, the media often targets the captain. By doing this, they try to put the whole team under pressure. He said, “On foreign tours, the media tries to target the captain because, if you put mental pressure on the captain, then it becomes easy to put the whole team under pressure. If you can drop the captain, then you can drop the rest 9 like a pin.”
“Many players are taught what to say”- Ashwin
Ashwin said that most players are trained on what to say and how to behave in front of the media, but this does not seem to be the case with Gill.
He further said, “Don’t take it the wrong way, but many players are taught what to say and how to behave in front of the media. But it does not seem so with Shubman Gill. He seems to be a person who is doing what he believes in.”
Captain Gill played an innings of 147 runs in the Headingley Test match. In the second Test which was held at Edgbaston, he scored 269 runs in the first innings and 161 in the second innings. He became the first Indian captain in Test history to score a double century and an innings of more than 150 runs in the same match. So far in the series, Gill has scored a total of 585 runs at an average of 146.25.
