Former Indian cricket team player and ex-BCCI selector Venkatapathy Raju said that India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill should approach his captaincy appointment positively. However, Gill was named captain for the upcoming Test series against England with Rishabh Pant serving as his deputy following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket just ahead of the series as well.

“Not really, not really. You see, what was Rohit Sharma? Rohit Sharma struggled when he played Test cricket, right? But then, when they gave him captaincy for Mumbai Indians, he won trophies. Then suddenly his style of cricket changed. Then he became Indian captain, right? After he became Indian captain, he did well,” Venkatapathy Raju told Hindustan Times.

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He also asked Shubman Gill to follow former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who became the captain of the team at a very young age, and learn how to manage situations as well.

“So Gill has been part of this Indian team in all formats, right? And then probably, you know, I want to see the example of Graeme Smith. When Graeme Smith was very young for South Africa. He was just 19 when he was made the captain. He made a lot of difference,” he said.

“So now the selectors have decided to give the chance to Gill. It’s up to the senior members in the team, all the players in the team to support him, right? Because it is a team game. It might change his style also. He might be more responsible. Initially, he might look little nervous, but then that’s what cricket is all about. It is a challenge. He has to accept the challenge. He has got five Test matches, hopefully he learns quickly in those games and plays the way he knows,” he concluded.