He Has Potential To Do Well As Skipper: Ex-Indian Wicketkeeper Praises Shubman Gill

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has reserved big praise for young Indian opening batter Shubman Gill, who was recently appointed as India’s vice captain for the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. According to Karthik, who announced his retirement from cricket after IPL 2024, the 24-year-old is a hard-working kid, and if he can keep working on his batting and improve a lot more as a captain, then he can do well as a skipper.

In reply to a question related to Gill on Cricbuzz’s Hey CB with DK show, Karthik said, “He’s been around in international cricket for some time, and he knows how to handle pressure. So why not? He is a vice captain, and I believe he has the potential; if he keeps working on his batting and the fact that he can improve a lot more as a captain over the years, he has the potential to do well as a skipper as well.”

“This year, he started for Gujarat (Titans), and he was not bad, but he knows that it’s a little bit of work to put in on and off the field, and he’ll be working towards that. The one thing about Shubman Gill is that he’s a really hardworking kid, and that is going to stand them in good stead for the future,” he added.

Gill was preferred over the likes of Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya for India’s vice-captain role in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, which starts on Saturday (July 27) in Pallekele. It has also been reported that the right-handed batter, who is seen as a three-format player by the BCCI, will replace Jasprit Bumrah as India’s vice captain for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh next month.

Gill’s record as captain in T20Is and IPL

Gill made his captaincy debut for India during a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in July 2024. He suffered a shocking defeat in the first match as captain, but after that, he helped the Men in Blue bounce back and get the better of the Sikandar Raza-led side in back-to-back four matches.

In the IPL, Gill made his captaincy debut for GT in 2024 but was only able to win five out of 14 matches.