"Indian cricket has definitely moved on" - Aakash Chopra makes huge remark on Shubman Gill's popularity amid IND vs WI 2025 2nd Test

Aakash Chopra highlighted how Team India skipper Shubman Gill has received immense love from fans at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi during the ongoing second Test against West Indies. He noted that several supporters held posters of Gill in the stands.

The former cricketer suggested that while there were many posters for Indian cricket stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Gill got a rousing reception from the crowd as well. Chopra said in his latest YouTube video (at 4:43):

"Shubman Gill is in the heart of Delhi fans. I never thought this would happen. Small kids held banners for him. There were posters of Ro-Ko on one side, and in Kohli's hometown, and in his pavilion, people were clapping for Gill. Indian cricket has definitely moved on. You may disagree, but what I saw in Delhi was in front of everyone. The love that we saw in Delhi, and the way cricket moves forward, it is a reminder that time doesn't stop for anyone."

Gill looked in great touch in India's first innings. He notched up his tenth Test century. He crossed the 100-run mark on Day 2 (Saturday, October 11). The right-handed batter remained unbeaten on 129 as the hosts declared at 518/5.

Chopra also spoke about how Gill's numbers have improved significantly since taking over the Test captaincy reins. He emphasized that his stunning run with the bat played a role in his getting the ODI captaincy as well.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added (4:11):

"The best of him has come as a captain. If you compare his stats, his average was in the early 30s when he wasn't the captain, which has suddenly reached 80 now as captain. So, that one thing has gone in his favor. There were questions about whether it was too early to give him the ODI captaincy, but no, because when it is established that batting will not be affected at all with captaincy, there is no hesitation."

Shubman Gill replaced Rohit Sharma as India's ODI captain ahead of the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia. The opening contest will take place in Perth on October 19.

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"We are definitely now officially in that Gill era of Indian cricket" - Aakash Chopra's huge praise for Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill now has five Test centuries to his name as captain in just 12 innings. He became the third-fastest skipper to hit five Test tons, only behind Alastair Cook (nine innings) and Sunil Gavaskar (10 innings).

Aakash Chopra believes that the Gill era of Indian cricket has officially kicked off. He remarked in the same video (at 1:21):

"Shubman Gill has equaled Sir Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar's record of scoring five centuries in his first seven Tests as a captain. Now let that sink in. Five centuries in seven games, man. Of course, Alastair Cook is ahead of him with six centuries in seven matches. This is incredible, the way he has been playing and setting records one after the other. We are definitely now officially in that Gill era of Indian cricket."

Chopra opined that Gill has earned the dressing room's respect by scoring big runs as captain. He added (at 3:35):

"He is walking the talk. He is leading from the front and by example because if you score these many runs, you have the entire dressing room's respect. If there are no runs, there is no respect. If you score runs at the start, the story becomes easy because you have earned everybody's respect, and over a period of time, if there is a bad time, everybody knows that he will handle it."

Meanwhile, West Indies finished 140/4 at stumps on Day 2, still trailing India's total by 378 runs.