New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill is under the spotlight after his leadership in the series opener against England came under criticism from former England skipper Nasser Hussain, who said Gill “didn’t quite have the on-field aura” of his predecessors, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

“I saw someone finding his way,” Hussain said on Sky Sports. “He (Gill) didn’t quite have that on-field aura of Rohit and Kohli. I thought he followed the ball a lot and was reactive rather than proactive. When Rohit and Kohli captained, you looked down and immediately knew who was in charge. In this game, I saw two or three captains — captaincy by committee.”

Gill’s first Test as skipper ended in disappointment as India slumped to a five-wicket defeat at Headingley despite a dominant start and five individual centuries across both innings. England, fueled by Ben Duckett’s electrifying 149 and composed efforts from Joe Root (53 not out) and debutant Jamie Smith (44 not out), chased down 371 in the fourth innings — their second-highest successful run chase in Test history, and the highest ever against India.

While Hussain admitted that Gill’s captaincy lacked assertiveness, he also acknowledged that the 24-year-old wasn’t solely to blame. “India lost the match because of two things Gill couldn’t control — dropped catches and batting collapses,” he said, pointing to the team’s fielding woes and repeated middle-order meltdowns.

In a game where India had England at 276/5 in the first innings and later at 333/4 in the second, their inability to close out dominant positions proved fatal. The visitors lost seven wickets for 41 runs in the first innings and six for 31 in the second — collapses that turned the tide despite hundreds from Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill himself in his first innings as captain.

Former England pacer Stuart Broad echoed similar sentiments, saying India had “so many opportunities to put this game to bed” but let England fight back. “Duckett was absolutely outstanding. It’s just incredible how this team keeps doing this,” Broad said.

India’s bowling resources were also stretched. Jasprit Bumrah, who took a five-for in the first innings, is managing his workload and is expected to feature in only three of the five Tests due to a recent back injury.

The lack of a dependable seam-bowling all-rounder in English conditions added further imbalance — a problem Hussain highlighted, saying, “In India, they have spin-bowling all-rounders like Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar. But in England, they’re still searching for someone who can bat and bowl seam.”

–IANS

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