‘Prince’ on Shubman Gill's MRF bat is not indicative of his inflated ego after becoming India Test captain

Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket, some five weeks back, opened up a leadership vacuum in the lead-up to a five-Test tour of England, India’s first assignment in the new World Test Championship cycle. Jasprit Bumrah might have been the logical successor if not for the need to manage his workload, so the names that floated around were Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, with the experienced KL Rahul as an outside bet. Shubman Gill with his new MRF bat(BCCI)

In their collective wisdom, Ajit Agarkar’s selection panel – most certainly with inputs from head coach Gautam Gambhir – zeroed in on the 25-year-old Gill to lead the team forward. The vision was long-term; despite his tender years, Gill has been an integral part of the Test team since December 2020, and even though he didn’t have great captaincy credentials at the first-class level, he helmed Gujarat Titans for two seasons in the Indian Premier League. The first wasn’t a great success, but the right-hand batter caught the eye in the season gone by with his creativity, composure and imagination, even though his team failed to make it to the playoffs.

Once the leadership pendulum came to rest on his side, it should have been that. As it is, the challenges ahead of the lad from Fazilka in Punjab are immense. For starters, he must find his scoring touch outside the subcontinent where, in his last 18 Test innings, his highest score is 36. Additionally, he must inspire his young charges to be mentally ready for battle, what with India having lost huge chunks of experience following the retirements in a five-month window of R Ashwin, Rohit and finally Virat Kohli.

Even before he has walked out for the toss for the first time as India’s Test captain, Gill has run into troubled waters for no fault of his. Instead of rallying around the young skipper, keyboard warriors manning the social media space have had a concerted go for a couple of weeks now, the vitriol peaking in the last several hours owing to the presence of the word ‘Prince’ in his bat sticker.

Prince on Shubman Gill's MRF bat is a latest addition

After the league phase of the Champions Trophy in Dubai in early March, Gill had a new bat sponsor. The same company that once supported Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, Brian Lara, AB de Villiers and, most recently, Kohli has roped in Gill. To merely be clubbed in the same group as these champions would have thrilled Gill no end, but ‘Prince’ emblazoned on the MRF sticker has provided fodder for those who like to perceive arrogance and ego, even when these character traits are conspicuous by their absence.

Gill is an affable, respectful young man entrusted with one of the most demanding tasks in any sphere in India. He has revealed a few trappings of a prima donna. In the past, MRF stickers have been embellished at various times by ‘Champion’, ‘Genius’, ‘Master’ and ‘Legend’. ‘Prince’ is merely the latest addition to that series, perhaps a cheeky takeoff on the moniker of the same six letters that have been associated with Gill for a few years now. To suggest that that is an indication of Gill’s inflated opinion of himself is nothing if not overreach, any which way one looks at it.

It's not necessary for his critics to sing a different tune all of a sudden just because he has become the Test captain, but the least India’s cricketing fraternity owes him is the opportunity to grow into his role. If one must judge the fifth-youngest captain in Indian Test history, it should be on the back of his batting and his tactical acumen, and that too after giving him time to grow into a role that he most certainly does cherish, but which he didn’t chase obsessively. It is unfair to hang the sword over his head and expect him to deliver immediately or else… Gill will undoubtedly be insulated from much of the venom in the cocoon of the national set-up, but it is inevitable that he will come to know of the furore – the ‘external noise’ as the Indian camp likes to term it – and it is all too human for him not to be affected by it.

In exactly a week’s time, an exciting new phase in Indian cricket will kick off with the first Test at Headingley in Leeds. India haven’t won a series in England since 2007, when Rahul Dravid lifted the inaugural Pataudi Trophy. The first scrap for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy (as the Pataudi Trophy has now been rechristened) could just be the inspiration Gill and India seek as they brace for life in the red-ball lane without three of their most influential performers of the last decade and more.

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