“It’s too early to talk about captaincy” - Mohammad Azharuddin backs Shubman Gill as captain after Leeds Test defeat

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin has backed the new Indian Test captain Shubman Gill, who has been constantly receiving flak for his captaincy in the Leeds Test against England, which India lost by five wickets to start the series, trailing by 0-1.

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Despite five centuries scored by the Indian batters in the Leeds Test, Indian bowlers couldn’t replicate their first innings heroics in the fourth innings as England comfortably chased down the 371-run target on Day 5.

Azharuddin asserted that it would be too early to talk about Gill’s captaincy, and he should be given a fair chance in terms of time and support in the five-match Test series before commenting on him.

“This is his just first match as a captain, you just can’t talk about captaincy. It’s too early to talk about captaincy. We should give him a fair chance and he has just taken over. So, you should give him a lot of time and support. We cannot just complain and criticise players like that,” Azharuddin said as quoted by India Today.

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Furthermore, Azharuddin reckoned that the Indian think tank team needs to make proper team selection, and the Indian fielders need to take catches to achieve success in the upcoming four games of the series. 

Also, he added that there has been too much dependency on Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. Notably, the Indian seamer scalped a fifer in the first innings of the Leeds Test, but couldn’t replicate his heroics in the second innings. Moreover, he couldn’t get enough support from other Indian bowlers.

“We lost because of batting collapse, but anyways now they have to pick the right players and bowling has to be perfect. They are too much dependent on Bumrah. It’s not easy because you need more experienced bowlers, and they should play Kuldeep Yadav,” he added.

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Team India will lock horns with England in the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, starting on Wednesday, July 2.

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