Shubman Gill needs to take more on-field control: Jonathan Trott

Former England batter and JioHotstar expert, Jonathan Trott, has suggested that the Indian Test captain, Shubman Gill, take up more control on the field as a skipper. Notably, veterans like KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were seen changing fielders, which didn’t go down well with Trott.

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Instead, Trott went on to add that Gill should take up the advice he receives from senior players, but should stay in command of the areas that matter. Notably, Gill was awarded the player of the match for his twin centuries in the Birmingham Test, which India won by 336 runs to level the series 1-1.

“When your team wins, your decisions look good. But as Shubman’s captaincy tenure continues, he needs to take more on-field control. KL Rahul has a fantastic cricket brain and was leading parts of the field setup, that’s something Shubman will need to own more,” Trott told JioHotstar.

“What’s great is that he’s willing to listen and learn. Some young captains make the mistake of thinking they must control everything. He just needs to filter the advice he receives and stay in command of the areas that matter,” he added.

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Furthermore, Trott also reckoned that Jofra Archer would be feeling a lot of pressure on his return to the longest format of the game after four years, as he would have a lesser support from other bowlers in the English attack. 

In contrast, Trott felt that the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested and ready, would have an exceptional support from other pacers, who scalped 18 out of 20 wickets in the second Test.

Also, if I had the choice, I’d rather have Jasprit Bumrah returning to my side than Jofra Archer returning for England. Archer’s a bit undercooked at the moment and hasn’t played enough cricket. Bumrah, by contrast, is coming in rested and ready. Plus, the Indian bowling unit is in better form right now, and they back up Bumrah well. With England, there’s more pressure on Archer and less support from the other bowlers.”

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