Unlike last year, I have seen Gill the leader look very different in England this time around.
He came to the press conference and openly said that he had been discussing the 2027 World Cup with Virat Kohli.
This piece isn’t about whether the decision is right or wrong.
Some will argue it is the right call because Rohit isn’t scoring consistently and hasn’t looked at his best.
If 2025 marked the emergence of Gill as India’s red-ball leader, 2026 is doing the same in white-ball cricket.
It is all about Rohit Sharma at the moment. Will he retire or will he not? Will the Lord’s game be his last? Can he produce one final effort at Lord’s and make a difference? Will he stay defiant and let the selection committee take the call?
In all of this, we haven’t really heard the name of Shubman Gill. And may I add that the Gill factor will also have a say.
Unlike last year, I have seen Gill the leader look very different in England this time around. In 2025, Gill was captain, yes, but it was largely Gautam Gambhir who was taking the calls in England. Over the last year, Gill has matured as a leader. He came to the press conference and openly said that he had been discussing the 2027 World Cup with Virat Kohli. It is as much his team now as anyone else’s, and he is the leader in that dressing room. He too will have a say and isn’t someone who can be ignored.
The transformation in Gill is there for all to see. He is batting beautifully, and when you are scoring heavily and batting well, it inevitably adds to your confidence. With a year in charge, he now knows that dressing room well and, over time, has become a more assertive leader.
When he was asked about his conversation with Kohli, he could easily have given a diplomatic answer. He could have said it was a private conversation and not something he wanted to discuss publicly. No one would have thought any less of him had he said so and moved on. Yet he chose to answer the question in detail. He made it clear that he was discussing World Cup combinations with Virat and, in a way, put much of the speculation to rest. This is the new Gill we are seeing, and it is hard to believe that people will not need his buy-in on a decision as significant as the one involving Rohit.
This piece isn’t about whether the decision is right or wrong. Some will argue it is the right call because Rohit isn’t scoring consistently and hasn’t looked at his best. Others will point to his fleeting moments of brilliance, the hard work he has put in over the last few months, and argue that he deserves more time.
I don’t want to get into who is right or who is wrong. All I am trying to say is that it can’t just be the selection committee that takes the call. The captain will have just as much say because he is the one who has to lead India in South Africa 14 months from now. It will be his team and his responsibility. He too will have to own the decision and stand by it.
The captain’s voice cannot be ignored, and that has been evident throughout this tour of England. If 2025 marked the emergence of Gill as India’s red-ball leader, 2026 is doing the same in white-ball cricket.
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