Does Shubman Gill averaging only 35 in test deserves captaincy?

[Ravi_Shastri]

Dlt

Edited May 24 by Ravi_Shastri

[Ravi_Shastri]

9 hours ago, crictime said:

Indian Test squad against England has been announced today. Shubman Gill is the newly appointed captain and Rishabh Pant gets the vice captain's role.

 

Shubman has failed to justify his place in tests. His test record is as follows:

 

Matches : 32

Innnings: 59

NO: 5

Runs: 1893

Highest : 128

Batting Average : 35.05

100's : 5

50's : 7

 

 

32 tests chances is a lot. Considering the opportunities he has got to represent India and being given such a long run, inspite of dropping him as a test batsman from squad,  they have picked him as a captain. Not only his test batting below average, he also apparently has insecurity and jealousy about youngsters who have done well than him.

 

 

For the record, all rounder Yuvraj Singh had test average of 33 and he was in no way a quality test match batsman. 

 

How cheap has a place in Indian Test team become, that the selectors continue to select below par batsmen in test cricket. Moreover, they also have the audacity to make such non-performer a captain of a team which has been in top 3 ranks since the WTC started. 

 

 

What is the first class average of the new icf golden boy Sudarshan?

[bowl_out]

3 hours ago, Ravi_Shastri said:

What is the first class average of the new icf golden boy Sudarshan?

In the 2024/25 season, he averaged 76.

Recency matters 

[vvvslaxman]

2 hours ago, bowl_out said:

In the 2024/25 season, he averaged 76.

Recency matters 

 

He is evaluated based on his adaptability.   Sundar did not play a single first class game for 4 years when he played that critical knock at the Gabba. Sometimes statpadding in domestic is not the only criteria one has to look at. Pradosh Ranjan paul averages 53 in first class . Babar Indrajith averages 51 after 81 first class games. Lot of critical knocks. But nobody can say they have higher ceiling than Sai Sudarshan.

[bowl_out]

2 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

 

He is evaluated based on his adaptability.   Sundar did not play a single first class game for 4 years when he played that critical knock at the Gabba. Sometimes statpadding in domestic is not the only criteria one has to look at. Pradosh Ranjan paul averages 53 in first class . Babar Indrajith averages 51 after 81 first class games. Lot of critical knocks. But nobody can say they have higher ceiling than Sai Sudarshan.

Great post. Some people give too much importance to stats

[AKane]

BTW captaining the long format is different from captaining a 20 over game. England is a hard place to captain. They have a good test team with Brook and Root anchoring the batting. Duckett, Jamie Smith and Stokes can get runs too. Atkinson and Carse are quite ok at home and Woakes/Archer/Potts/Tongue are a okay bench.

 

This Indian team has the potential to do a 1974 re run. Except Bumrah everyone else is shaky.

[Trichromatic]

19 hours ago, rkt.india said:

Captaincy got nothing to do with batting. In fact, the best batsman shouldn't be a captain. 

 

19 hours ago, rkt.india said:

Run scoring isn't the criteria to become a captain. He had the second best average after pant against NZ. 

 

18 hours ago, zen said:

Exactly! Appears there is this misconception that the best averaging batsman or bowler should be the captain. 
 

 

 

 

How does that translate to worst averaging batsman being captain?

[lemsip]

19 hours ago, rkt.india said:

Captaincy got nothing to do with batting. In fact, the best batsman shouldn't be a captain. 

That is true but the captain should also command an undoubted place in the playing XI on his own merits. So far I see that Gill still has significant technical flaws which have not been addressed after 30 tests, a less than mediocre average and no performances outside asia apart from a couple of 50s 4 years ago in Australia. The glaring technical flaw is his tendency to play with crossed legs bringing the bat across his bat. That works on the pattas in India but fails everywhere else and he has done nothing to address that. 

I personally would have gone with Pant who  alwaysgets into the side as a keeper anyway though that is not a perfect choice either

[Ravi_Shastri]

6 hours ago, bowl_out said:

Great post. Some people give too much importance to stats

This entire thread is based on stats lmao. Look at the thread title 

[Ravi_Shastri]

10 hours ago, bowl_out said:

In the 2024/25 season, he averaged 76.

Recency matters 

 

Recency only matters when it comes to certain favorites. For others it is “eye test” “fc record” “talent”

 

Lmao Sudarshan played all of 4 games last ranji...

Yash Rathod, Snehal Kauthankar, Shubham Sharma, Tanmay Agarwal, Agnideb chopra are top 5 run scorers of last Ranji Season.

This is an IPL pick nothing else. Even if you score truck loads in domestic you will not be picked unless you are a star in IPL now a days...it is pretty apparent

 

Agian, I have no issue in him bein selected, but stop with thsi selective bias and be consistent in your opinions 

Edited May 25 by Ravi_Shastri

[nevada]

It looks like the selectors are gambling that the added responsibility of being captain will drive Gill to perform better as a batsman. But I doubt he will overcome the fundamental weakness he has failed to fix for years. 

[zen]

3 hours ago, Trichromatic said:

 

 

 

 

How does that translate to worst averaging batsman being captain?

The decision appears to based on long term potential. We have seen teams like SA appoint young captains such as G Smith (aged 22-23 at the time of appointment) based on potential (including displaying certain traits that the selectors like to see in a captain). 
 

Let’s see how the decision turns out!

Edited May 25 by zen

[BlueBee]

He is the new posterboy of Indian cricket, and was always going to be.

 

Let’s just hope he can bat decently for us, even if not at an ATG level in tests. Batting average shouldn’t be a strong factor when considering captaincy, however, I do agree that it gives the team confidence if the captain plays well. 

[BacktoCricaddict]

4 hours ago, Ravi_Shastri said:

Even if you score truck loads in domestic you will not be picked unless you are a star in IPL now a days...it is pretty apparent

Truth. IPL gives visibility. That's not to say Sudarshan is undeserving but let there be no doubt that without IPL he wouldn't have got a look. And for all of the Sarfaraz controversy, if he was a decent IPL performer, he would be there. Outofsight outofmind. 

Edited May 25 by BacktoCricaddict

[cricketfan28]

his star value is high, he is the next superstar

[vvvslaxman]

1 hour ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Truth. IPL gives visibility. That's not to say Sudarshan is undeserving but let there be no doubt that without IPL he wouldn't have got a look. And for all of the Sarfaraz controversy, if he was a decent IPL performer, he would be there. Outofsight outofmind. 

To be fair Sarfraz looked out of depth on any surface that was slightly challenging. Be it is spin or pace. It was shocking to see him struggle against average NZ spinners at test level

[Texan]

On 5/24/2025 at 5:51 AM, rkt.india said:

Captaincy got nothing to do with batting. In fact, the best batsman shouldn't be a captain. 

Does he deserve a place in the team based on his batting? First check of captaincy should be that the player deserves a place in the team based on his cricketing skills. His batting average in SENA is lower than Bhuvi's batting average in SENA. 

[vvvslaxman]

1 hour ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Truth. IPL gives visibility. That's not to say Sudarshan is undeserving but let there be no doubt that without IPL he wouldn't have got a look. And for all of the Sarfaraz controversy, if he was a decent IPL performer, he would be there. Outofsight outofmind. 

Problem with purely going by stat you will have about 25 to 30 players aveeraging in the 60s, 70s each season.  There is a reason why Irani Trophy runs were valued more than random ranji trophy scores. Even WV Raman was a monster in Ranji Trophy.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vvvslaxman]

5 minutes ago, Texan said:

Does he deserve a place in the team based on his batting? First check of captaincy should be that the player deserves a place in the team based on his cricketing skills. His batting average in SENA is lower than Bhuvi's batting average in SENA. 

 

He played two WTC finals too. Failed in all 4 innings. 

[Texan]

1 hour ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

Truth. IPL gives visibility. That's not to say Sudarshan is undeserving but let there be no doubt that without IPL he wouldn't have got a look. And for all of the Sarfaraz controversy, if he was a decent IPL performer, he would be there. Outofsight outofmind. 

Couldn't agree more. Only IPL is the "visible" tournament for selection across all formats. You can score a truckload of runs in Ranji and keep getting neglected. 

 

All that talk that successive team managements blabber about giving long rope is so selective. Sarfaraz Khan got the only century for India in a series where all batsmen failed, yet he was found to be the scapegoat and promptly dropped while others managed to carry on.