'It was just his first series; he will learn' - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill’s comparisons with Virat Kohli as captain

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that Shubman Gill's caliber as a captain will only grow over time, and that the media and supporters should not be overly critical of his decisions so early in his captaincy career. The recent five-match Test series against England, which ended 2-2, was Gill's first stint as India's full-time Test captain.  

Chopra pointed out that since Gill has been always been labelled as a generational talent and occupies the No. 4 position with the bat, expectations have been naturally high from him bearing in mind that he's filling Virat Kohli's shoes.

"The captaincy is a work in progress, but he is 25 years old. He will learn. It was just his first series. He was seen following the ball at times, but we have seen that with all captains. We have seen that with Rohit, Dhoni, Virat, and everyone, that they placed fielders wherever the ball went at some stage. Many questions were raised, and there were a few comparisons as well. If Virat Kohli is King, his name (Gill's) has been kept Prince, so the comparisons start quickly," shared Chopra in a video posted on his official YouTube channel.

Chopra supports Gill's selection of players

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that in hindsight, Gill's decision to bolster the batting lineup rather than playing an additional specialist bowler in the form of Kuldeep Yadav was correct .

"Could he have been braver in his team selections? I will say yes, he could have been braver, but it's easier said than done. I do feel very strongly that Kuldeep Yadav should have played matches, but if you keep yourself in Shubman Gill's shoes, you would say the batting is not doing that good, the No. 3 hasn't gotten settled, Rishabh Pant has gotten injured, and I don't know what needs to be done at No. 6," observed Chopra.

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Gill emerged as the leading run-getter in the series with 754 runs in 10 innings. He played an instrumental part with the bat for India, who ended up retaining the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy by levelling the series with a thrilling six-run victory at The Oval.