By Gargi Raut
After the disaster in Australia at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Shubman Gill took over the Indian Test team ahead of one of the most important Test series, the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Five matches in England, treacherous conditions, a young team, no Rohit Sharma–Virat Kohli, and Gautam Gambhir at the helm as Head Coach. Fans had their reservations about naming Gill captain in the presence of India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah and senior batter KL Rahul in the set-up, but this management believes in taking bold calls and never looking back. Throughout the series, Gill answered the critics with his bat, scoring 754 runs and commanding the respect of the dressing room with his performances. It was a dream start to a captain’s new innings.
Throughout the series, in every press conference, the media heard things they hadn’t as much before, accountability. After the first Test at Headingley, where India went on to lose the game after some below-par performances with the bat and in the field, Gill came out for the press conference ahead of the next game at Edgbaston. When asked about the lack of lower-order contributions, he said: “The top-order batters should have scored more runs. I should have scored 50 more runs.” To put the statement in context, Gill had scored 147 in the first innings of the first Test and yet took the blame on his shoulders for India’s failure with the bat.
Throughout the series Gill and the management spoke about, and repeatedly used, the words “clarity” and “security”. Take KL Rahul’s case for example; the batter had been sent up and down the order in the many series preceding the tour of England and never seemed to make a mark. But as soon as he was designated the opener’s role, he turned out to be India’s missing puzzle piece at the top. Looking back on the series, Rahul played the saviour several times, the most notable performance being his partnership with the skipper at Manchester, where the two went without a wicket in treacherous, on-and-off rain conditions to eventually draw the game.
Fast forward to India’s home series against West Indies. The Indian team made a colossal error in enforcing the follow-on in the second Test of the series; India had trouble breaking the last-wicket partnership but still had a lead of 270 runs. Many thought India would choose to bat, but the opposite happened. John Campbell and Shai Hope got centuries, staged a solid fightback, and the match eventually went to Day 5. The Head Coach, in the post-match press conference, made it a point to talk about team selections. “International cricket is a very insecure environment,” he said, emphasising the importance of giving his players clarity and security when selecting the XIs.
And weeks later Gill, at the Eden Gardens ahead of the first Test against South Africa, said that enforcing the follow-on was a mistake and that “we have learnt from it”.
Throughout the build-up to the Test at Eden Gardens there was an enormous amount of attention to detail for the wicket, one tailor-made by the Indian management. The Eden wicket turned from Day 2, and India went on to lose the match on a tricky surface. Gambhir once again didn’t hold back from taking accountability: “This is exactly what (pitch) we wanted. But when you don’t play well this is exactly what happens.”
If there is one thing that this Indian set-up has done right, it is the culture around mistakes. Gill’s instinct to absorb blame, KL Rahul’s revival through clarity, the management accepting tactical errors, and Gambhir’s blunt acceptance of lack of application on a tricky wicket they had tailor-made. Accountability has become more of a behavioural shift and the willingness to stand up, take responsibility, and move forward is perhaps the clearest identity this team has built under Gill and Gambhir.
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