Gill wants Test cricket to be as it is

As Shubman Gill’s first assignment as India’s Test captain turned out to be a memorable one as his team came from behind to draw the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, the skipper made it clear that there should not be any changes to the longest format of the game.

“I think Test cricket should be as it is. In my opinion, it is the most rewarding and satisfying format. You work the hardest to be able to get a win and the best thing about this format is that it always gives you a second chance, which none of the other formats give,” Gill said on Monday (August 4, 2025) after India won the fifth and final Test to level the series.

“So, if you keep working hard, if you keep doing the right things, there is always a second chance…” he said.

After losing the opening fixture in Leeds, India won the second Test in Birmingham, before going down at Lord’s in the third. However, a draw in Manchester meant the series wasn’t over. And with a bunch of youngsters giving it their all, India created history at The Oval, beating England by six wickets.

Before the series got under way, the right-hander said that he wouldn’t let captaincy affect his batting. He kept his word with 754 runs in the series, including a double hundred and three hundreds.

As a leader, he had to take care of the mental health of the players and that helped him. “If you think too much about others, your own pressure goes away. You are always thinking about someone else. Even in captaincy or when I was batting, I felt that. Because, thinking about others, I didn’t feel much pressure on myself,” he said.

“I was always thinking about what I can do for the team. How can I help a person who is feeling low? So all of these things helped me to be able to take pressure from myself…”