India national cricket team’s legendary spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has shared his bold views on Shubman Gill’s captaincy in the recently concluded two-match Test series against the West Indies national cricket team.
Ravichandran Ashwin said there are some key areas where Shubman Gill needs to improve to become better as a captain and admitted that his lack of experience was on full display in the Test series against the Roston Chase-led side.
Shubman Gill can do better, more creativity in field placements – Ravichandran Ashwin
Shubman Gill won his first Test series as captain by defeating West Indies 2–0 at home. India won the first Test match by an innings and 140 runs as they restricted West Indies to 162 and 146 runs in two innings and scored 448/5d in their only innings at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Then, in the second Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, India won by 7 wickets as they scored 518/5 in the first innings before bowling out West Indies for 248 and 390 and chasing 121 runs in the final innings.
Speaking after the end of the series, Ravichandran Ashwin said that Shubman Gill could be more creative with his field placements.
He said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash Ki Baat’, “Today’s batsmen send the ball very far, like Jayden Seales; so you can’t always attack much. Maybe in the bowler rotation, Shubman Gill can do better, more creativity in field placement, like when Justin Greaves reverse-swept with point open; it’s not always the best move with bounce on a red clay pitch.” Is. You have to look closely and make extra preparations.”
In my view, Shubman Gill has less experience in the field and it shows – Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin further said that Shubman Gill is a confident cricketer and he fully supports his players, but tactically he is not brilliant. He said that the Indian captain needs to be more patient and he needs guidance from his seniors in the setup.
He said, “In my view, Shubman Gill has less experience in the field and it shows; he is confident and supports the players, but the tactics like rotation and placement could use more work and it was visible. It felt like he needed help. In such conditions you have to give ten-over spells to the bowlers. There was some impatience. He needs some guidance.”
When Virat Kohli was captain, he used to urge fast bowlers to bowl bouncers – Ravichandran Ashwin
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj played both the test matches against West Indies and performed brilliantly. However, he was criticized by commentators on several occasions for not using bouncers against the West Indies batsmen. Ravichandran Ashwin explained the reason behind the pacers’ move, saying:
He said, “In this series, the Indian fast bowlers played a role. They have a role. Indian fast bowlers generally avoid bowling bouncers because they have a better idea of how to bowl in the subcontinent. We work with the ball a little more. We bring reverse swing and LBW into the game.”
“When Virat Kohli was the captain, if he was not getting wickets in 2-3 overs, he used to urge the fast bowlers to bowl bouncers. He liked to keep square leg on the boundary, so that the bowler could bowl bouncers with safety. Fast bowlers instinctively know how to bowl bouncers when they come back to square leg. Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, all used bouncers well, but Mainly when the ball reverses, otherwise not so much.”
Also Read: Gautam Gambhir justifies Shubman Gill’s decision of not bowling to Nitish Kumar Reddy in Delhi Test vs West Indies