India national cricket team’s bowling great Ravichandran Ashwin 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 make improvements to become better as a captain and believes 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 placement – Ravichandran Ashwin
Shubman Gill won his first Test series as captain, beating the West Indies 2-0 at home. India won the first Test match by an innings and 140 runs as they bowled out the West Indies for 162 and 146 in two innings and scored 448/5d in their only innings at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
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Then, in the second Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, India registered a 7-wicket win as they piled up 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 can become more creative in his fielding.
“Bats today are sending misses too far, like Jayden Sills, so you can’t always attack more. Maybe in the bowler’s rotation, Shubman Gill can do better, more creativity in pitch placement, like when Justin Greaves reverse-swipes with an open spot; that’s not always the best move on a pitched pitch,” he said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’. Red with reflux. “You have to watch closely and prepare more.”
In my view, Shubman Gill has less experience in this field and it shows – Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin further said that Shubman Gill is a confident cricketer who supports his players to the fullest, but tactically he is not a genius. He added that the Indian skipper needs to be patient and needs guidance from his seniors in the preparation.
“From my point of view, Shubman Gill has less experience in the field and it shows; he is confident and supports the bowlers, but in tactics like rotation and placement, more work can be done and it was visible. I felt he needed help. In such conditions, you will have to give ten-tenth bowlers more shifts. There was some impatience. He needs some guidance,” he added.
When Virat Kohli was captain, he used to urge fast bowlers to bowl to bouncers – Ravichandran Ashwin
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj played the two Test matches against West Indies and did a fantastic job. However, they have been 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:
“In this series, Indian fast bowlers have played a role. They have a role. Indian fast bowlers have generally shied away from bowling bouncers because they have a better idea of bowling in the sub-continent. We are handling the ball a little more. We are playing reverse swing and LBW in play,” he said.
“When Virat Kohli was captain, he would urge the fast bowlers to bowl bouncers if the wicket was not coming in 2-3 overs. He liked having square leg on the boundary so that the bowlers could bowl bouncers with protection. Fast bowlers instinctively know to bowl bouncers when square leg is coming back. Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma have all used bouncers well, But mainly when the ball is reversed, not much otherwise.”
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