Shubman Gill's crown of thorns
The latest episode of Sport & Pastime just dropped
Turns out today is podcast day — though to be accurate, this latest episode of the sports podcast that Faisal Sharif and I co-host dropped yesterday; it is just that I got caught up in much, and couldn’t post.
This one is on the captain, and the team, picked by the national cricket selectors to tour England for a five-Test series starting in less than a month from now. And it is a mix of pessimism — call it realism, rather — and optimism. The former, because this is the rawest batting side India has sent on a tour in living memory; the latter, because this team marks a distinct generational shift and, irrespective of immediate results, is an opportunity to build for the future. Comments and suggestions welcome:
Amazing podcast. Quite a few thoughts
1. Gill's captaincy - agree that there's a lot for him to prove as a batsman. It reminds me of Graeme Smith (who was even less experienced) in 2003 in Eng. He scored two doubles and put that to bed for the next half decade. Gill needs to do something similar - otherwise it would be hard for him to demand standards of Pant, Jaiswal and KLR.
2. Has KLR opted out of captaincy? Seems that way, he's not been a happy skipper at PBKS and LSG, and didnt have a great time in SA when he led in the white ball format. Is it a mutual thing - is he happier being a team player? 33 is the ideal age for a 3-4 year stint as skipper across two cycles.
3. First choice bowling line-up: agree about Arshdeep due to the height, swing both ways and left arm angle. However, would go with Prasidh over Siraj. More pace and bounce.
4. Batting order: Don't we need to avoid front loading? Having our best three batters at 1,2,3 (KLR, Jaiswal and Gill) is a huge risk, esp in Eng. Morning conditions in England are always challenging, esp the first hour, and whenever it is overcast (forget designer pitches for low scoring shootouts - they're out of favor in the Bazball era).
5. Shreyas - overall politics aside, I think he and Ishan are still not fully out of the whole central contracts fracas. It's not ideal I know, esp given the kind of results Shreyas has gotten, but he's also struggled as a test batsman due to short ball bowling. I think the selectors can be given a pass here.