"Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a set team" - Hemang Badani lauds Shubman Gill's century as captain in ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former India player Hemang Badani has lauded Shubman Gill for playing a captain's knock in the second Test against England. He noted that the recently appointed Indian Test captain has an additional burden on him, as he is leading a relatively inexperienced team when compared to his predecessors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Gill scored an unbeaten 114 off 216 deliveries as India ended Day 1 (Wednesday, July 2) in Birmingham at 310/5 in their first innings. Ravindra Jadeja (41* off 67) was the other unbeaten batter at Stumps.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Badani praised Gill for shouldering the additional captaincy responsibility with centuries in successive Tests.

"Before this season, there were a lot of discussions that he doesn't score runs in SENA countries. He let the bat do the talking. He scored a century in the first match and a century in this match as well. As it's said, captaincy suits some people. Captaincy is suiting him," the former India batter said.

"I would also like to say that he is the captain of a young team. There is a lot of burden on him. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a set team. This is an absolutely new team, and he knows he has to do something as a batter. He is handling the pressure very well," he added.

Hemang Badani noted that Shubman Gill defended solidly and was precise with his shot selection. He added that the middle-order batter's footwork to cut Chris Woakes' swing was spot-on.

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"What better start could you have had as a captain?" - Saba Karim lauds Shubman Gill's hundred in ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Shubman Gill has struck 12 fours in his unbeaten 114-run knock. [P/C: Getty]

In the same discussion, former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim noted that Shubman Gill couldn't have had a better start as a Test captain.

"What better start could you have had as a captain? Shubman had to work extremely hard today (Wednesday). The England pacers had a different approach today. They applied different tactics against Shubman Gill. The attack was more within the stumps, and Shubman prepared very well for that," he said.

The former India selector added that the 25-year-old countered the England bowlers brilliantly and batted sensibly when the team was in a spot of bother.

"He negated exceptionally whatever the England pace bowlers offered to him. He played a more controlled knock against Shoaib Bashir. Shubman needed to bat solidly when two wickets had fallen quickly. It was a fully deserved century. He constructed his knock brilliantly, although the job is still incomplete," Saba observed.

India were reduced to 211/5 when Rishabh Pant (25 off 42) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1 off 6) were dismissed in successive overs. Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja then stitched together an unbroken 99-run sixth-wicket partnership to take their team to a relatively comfortable position.