Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has opened up about the challenges India's new Test captain, Shubman Gill will face when the team plays five Test matches against England starting on June 20. The legendary Aussie cricketer has urged Gill to bat at number four during the series, as he feels that's the best position for India's new Test captain.
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) head coach also suggested that the additional burden of captaincy might affect Gill's batting, as it still needs some polishing.
"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 are 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."
"If they go with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudarshan as openers, they need someone more experienced at number 3 - maybe KL Rahul or Karun Nair. That would allow Shubman Gill to bat at four." Ponting explained. "Once you grow into it, then you can move yourself back up to No. 3".
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Rickey Ponting confident about Shubman Gill's long-term leadership prospects
For the unversed, Gill has only led a handful of games for his stateside Punjab across formats. However, the 24-year-old has the leadership experience of leading the Gujarat Titans (GT) for two IPL seasons. Ponting is optimistic about Gill doing well as the Test captain of India.
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"He just seems the sort of guy that the extra responsibility would not faze too much. He has got a really level head on his shoulders. He is someone who's going to be around Indian cricket for another 10 years."
