Shubman Gill has been announced as the new Test captain for the upcoming England tour. At just 25 years 285 days, he became the fifth youngest Test captain of India. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant has been announced as his deputy in the longest format.
Shubman Gill has been announced as India’s new Test captain. After Rohit Sharma retired from the longest format of the game, Gill, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah were in contention to take over the role on a full-time basis. Out of them, the selectors were concerned about Bumrah’s fitness for the entire five-match Test series against England and Gill was eventually preferred ahead of Pant.
With that, Gill became India’s fifth-youngest Test captain in history. He is currently 25 years and 285 days old and took over the responsibility before Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, and MS Dhoni did. Notably, only Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri were younger than Gill when they led India in Test cricket.
| Players named Test captain | Age on captaincy debut |
| Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi | 21 years 77 days |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 23 years 169 days |
| Kapil Dev | 24 years 48 days |
| Ravi Shastri | 25 years 229 days |
| Shubman Gill | 25 years 285 days |
Meanwhile, chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained the reason behind picking Gill as the leader of the pack in Test cricket. He explained that the selection committee was keeping a close tab on the cricketer and they added that they have considered him as a long-term option, rather than for one or two series.
“We discussed every option that’s there, over the last year or so, we’ve looked at Shubman at various times. Taken a lot of feedback from the dressing room. Very young, but there’s been improvement. We’re hopeful he’s the guy. He’s a terrific player, our best wishes to him. You don’t pick captains for one tour or two tours. We’ve seen some progress over the last year or two with him. No doubt it’s going to be as tough as it gets,” Agarkar said in the press conference.