Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting has shared his thoughts on Shubman Gill’s new role as India’s Test captain ahead of the five-Test series against England starting June 20. Ponting, who guided Punjab Kings into the IPL 2025 final, has praised Gill’s white-ball form but advised a few things for the red-ball format, especially now that he is the new skipper.
“His white-ball form has been incredibly good,” Ponting told PTI. “But he’s got a little bit of work to do on his Test match batting. And that’s never easy when you’re a new captain – to have to worry about your batting to the degree that he’s going to have to. It won’t be easy for him.”
Ponting suggests the number four slot for Gill to ease pressure
After Virat Kohli’s departure, the question now is who will fill his boots in the number four spot. Ponting believes shifting Gill down the order could help manage his dual responsibilities.
“If they go with (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan as openers, they need someone more experienced at No. 3 – maybe KL Rahul or Karun Nair. That would allow Shubman to bat at four,” Ponting explained. He added, “Once you grow into it, then you can move yourself back up to No. 3.”
Ponting also pointed out the area where Gill needs to improve in order to achieve better results — mental application.”There’s nothing wrong technically. But sometimes, he might get ahead of himself or a little lazy during an innings. You’ve got to be 100% committed for every ball, for six or seven hours of the day. That’s the challenge for Shubman,” he added.
However, Ponting remained optimistic as well, saying: “He just seems the sort of guy that the extra responsibility wouldn’t faze too much. He’s got a really level head on his shoulders. He’s someone who’s going to be around Indian cricket for another 10 years.”
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