Former Indian batter Manoj Tiwary questioned Shubman Gill’s appointment as India’s new Test captain ahead of the crucial tour of England. Team India will take on England in five highly anticipated Tests, starting at Leeds on June 20.

With skipper Rohit Sharma retiring from Tests weeks before the tour, India appointed Gill as their Test captain. However, the 25-year-old has only captained the side once in his career – the T20I series in Zimbabwe last year.

Gill has impressed in the ongoing IPL, leading Gujarat Titans (GT) to the playoffs in his second season as captain.

Talking about Gill as the new Test captain, Tiwary said on Cricbuzz (via Hindustan Times):

“He was the second-best option. But how can someone who doesn’t even fit in the Playing XI be made captain? So I feel the logic here was that they looked at who the second-best option was, and that was Gill, and that is how it happened.”

Jasprit Bumrah was deputy to Rohit Sharma as recently as the Australian tour late last year. However, the ace pacer’s injury concerns and possible workload management led to the selectors looking at a permanent option in Gill.

Gill has struggled to nail down a spot in India’s Test XI, having been dropped for two of the five Tests in India’s most recent series in Australia. He averages only 35.05 in his 32 Test appearances.

“I feel that is Rishabh Pant, and Gill is the third-best” – Virender Sehwag on India’s Test captain

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag agreed with the decision not to appoint Jasprit Bumrah as Test captain due to his injury concerns. However, Sehwag pointed to Rishabh Pant as the next best option for red-ball captaincy ahead of Shubman Gill.

In response to Tiwary on the same Cricbuzz panel, Sehwag said:

“For a series, Bumrah is okay. But as a long-term option, you need to ask if India play 10 Tests in a year, will he be able to play all those matches? Or, how many matches can he play? That is a major factor in picking a captain. So that I feel was the right decision, because they felt they could not put that pressure and load on Bumrah. Tiwary said Gill is the second-best, but I feel that is Rishabh Pant, and Gill is the third-best.” (via aforementioned source).

Pant has been arguably India’s most impactful Test batter over the past half a decade. However, like Gill, Pant has led India in only five T20Is against South Africa in 2022.