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Gill ruled out, Pant to captain at Guwahati
Rishabh Pant will captain India in the second Test after Shubman Gill's injury. He aims to keep things simple and inspire his team amid challenges.
Guwahati: Rishabh Pant will become India’s 38th Test captain on Saturday after Shubman Gill was ruled out of the second Test here due to the neck injury he had suffered during the Kolkata Test. It’s a one-off responsibility, that too when India are trying to level the two-match series here. That makes this hardly an opportunity, given Pant is already enduring a season where his career is still on the mend after the road accident that kept him out of cricket for nearly two years, not to mention the right foot fracture that prevented him from playing the fifth Test in England.
“Definitely, a one-off match is not the best scenario as a captain,” said Pant at the press conference on Friday. “But at the same time, I’m really proud that the BCCI has given me this opportunity. You know, whenever you’re leading your country, it’s the proudest moment. At the same time, I don’t want to think about it too much. I don’t want to take that undue pressure of captaincy. I just want to keep things very simple.”
Rishabh Pant doing Rishabh Pant things is one of the biggest reasons behind India’s Test resurgence in this decade. Gabba 2021 is always top of the highlights reel but even Leeds earlier this year (where he slammed hundreds in both innings), Birmingham and Cape Town in 2022, or Sydney in 2019 are powerful reminders of Pant’s ability to thrill and instill fear. He didn’t produce that form in the first Test but with captaincy thrust on him, you never know how Pant will react to Guwahati, where incidentally, he had also made his ODI debut in 2018.
“I want to be someone who gives that freedom and I want people and players to learn and make the right decision for the team eventually,” said Pant, when asked about his approach to captaincy. “That’s the real good and obviously whatever my knowledge is, that’s going to help them on the field regardless of me.
“I feel, especially in red ball cricket, because it goes for a longer period of time, you can overcome small tactical changes because it gives you time in the game. But at the same time, you have to keep your emotions in check and don’t let the game drift away from you for too long. You try to be as close as possible to the game during the pressure situation.”
Not too long ago, Pant was seen walking out with a broken foot at Manchester to add vital runs to India’s first innings in a game that was ultimately drawn. Gill was similarly eager to push himself, prompting batting coach Sitanshu Kotak to say that they are giving themselves time till Friday. But with the medical team advising more rest, Gill is going to Mumbai for ‘further assessment of his injury’, according to a BCCI release.
“He (Gill) is doing fine, he is getting better,” Pant said. “He was keen on playing this Test match but his body didn’t allow it. From a captaincy point of view, when you see his resilience that even when your body is not supporting, but you want to push it for your team. That’s the kind of mindset we want to inculcate and he did it from the front.”
Since no replacement has been named, B Sai Sudharsan—a left-handed batter—is most likely to come in place of Gill, though it remains to be seen if he comes straightaway at No 4. If Sudharsan returns, five out of the top seven in the batting line-up could end up being left-handed but Pant indicated that is going to be addressed, most likely through another change that he was not willing to reveal. “We have taken that in consideration because of having a lot of left-handers in the batting line-up. The person already knows he’s going to play,” he said.
