“He’ll be very important for Shubman Gill” - Michael Clarke’s huge claim on Indian star ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has endorsed Rishabh Pant's appointment as Shubman Gill's deputy in the Test team ahead of the England tour. The wicket-keeper batter enters the leadership group, being one of the most experienced members in the squad now after the string of recent retirements.

Rishabh Pant was reportedly in the captaincy race as well amid Jasprit Bumrah's workload concerns. However, the team management went with Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma's successor, while naming the wicket-keeper as the vice-captain.

He has led India across four T20Is in the past, and has been leading franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since 2021. The southpaw was also offered the chance to lead Delhi in the sporadic appearances he made in the Ranji Trophy earlier this year. However, he declined the chance and insisted that Ayush Badoni should lead the side.

Michael Clarke feels that Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill have to work in tandem as leaders of the group during the England tour and beyond.

"I like him being vice-captain. I think he’ll be very important for Shubman Gill. I think they have got to work together. I think he’s very confident with his own game at the moment, and vice-captaincy will help that self-belief as well. If all goes according to the plan and they play the cricket that they want to play, they could be there for a long time," Clarke said in an interview with RevSportz.

Pant was also the vice-captain of the U-19 Indian team that featured in the 2016 U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh.

"He will want to make runs because that’s a way to earn respect from the teammates" - Michael Clarke on Shubman Gill

One of the major challenges that Shubman Gill will have to endure during the England tour is managing the leadership role as well as battling his poor form. The right-handed batter's struggles in red-ball cricket, particularly overseas, have been well documented of late.

He had an underwhelming 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series, and is yet to make an impression in England after having made a couple of appearances already.

"Shubman Gill, I think, tactically, was very good in the IPL. First and foremost, he will want to make runs because that’s a way to earn respect from the teammates. Captaincy is something on top of that. I think it’s going to be a challenge for anyone who is captaining five Test matches in England because it’s tough cricket. But I think Shubman can do it," Clarke said.

Clarke also opined that Shreyas Iyer is not far away from making a comeback, especially if he continues to play with a rich vein of form. The right-handed batter was not included in the squad for the England tour, not even in the 'A' squad, following a stellar 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign for the Punjab Kings (PBKS).

"I think the one thing with Shreyas Iyer that has impressed me … the last game [Qualifier 2] against Mumbai Indians, I was on commentary and I made it very clear, if Shreyas Iyer wants to play for India, wants to be spoken about like all these great players, then this is the moment. He has to stand up in that semi-final [of sorts], and he did. Now If Shreyas continues to perform like this, I don’t think you can continue to not select him. All he can do is score runs as a batsman, stand up on the biggest stage and then the selectors will have to pick him," he concluded.

Iyer enjoyed his best-ever IPL campaign, scoring 604 runs in 17 matches at an average of 50.33 and 175.07. He also recently led the SoBo Mumbai Falcons to the finals of the T20 Mumbai League.