Ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri was not at all shy about criticizing Shubman Gill's captaincy on Day 3 of the fourth Test between England and India in Manchester.
England putting up 544/7 at stumps and taking a dominant 186-run first-innings lead, Shastri identified a number of tactical errors on the part of the young Indian captain.
Discussing on Sky Sports, Shastri was most annoyed by the slow introduction of off-spinner Washington Sundar into the bowling line-up. Sundar had a decisive impact, getting rid of Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in quick order, but was introduced after England had already established a good platform.
"He got four wickets in the previous match. Then you introduce that chap after 67, 69 overs. I mean, what message does that send to that player? Here, I've got four. I ought to be like a front-runner, bowling inside the first 30, 35 overs. And you are getting me on after 69. And then he takes the initial two wickets. So tactically, I felt they were found wanting," Shastri stated.
He further questioned handing over the new ball to debutant Anshul Kamboj over the more experienced Mohammed Siraj.
"I felt Siraj should have been given the new ball yesterday. Instead of offering it to Kamboj, who is new, playing his first Test match. That relieved some pressure on England. Then the bouncer strategy, which they are 24 hours behind. That would have been attempted yesterday to test if they could have made further penetrations. So strategically much was lacking," he further said.
Amidst the criticism, Shastri was still upbeat about Gill's potential to become a leader but stressed the importance of support from head coach Gautam Gambhir and the team's senior players.
"I'll refer to an instance of Virat when he took over. He was the opposite, as it goes with Shubman. He was extra, ultra-aggressive. Where you needed to, sometimes, from the dressing room, pacify him, particularly with field placement. It was a matter of as if you wanted five wickets per session of play. It doesn't work. At times you've got to, you know, respect the conditions and place fields accordingly. And that's the reason I feel the team management comes now into play in helping someone like Shubman Gill over the first year and a half. I feel that is the key," said Shastri.
He also emphasized the need for leadership by senior players to take charge of field placing and tactics in matches.
"The older players in the team, they need to start taking responsibility and be able to set their own fields, have their own thought process. That too should come from the bowlers. Okay, I'm going to experiment with this now, captain. What do you think? Instead of the captain going and telling them, if they have played 50, 60 test matches and so on, it should be them going and informing the captain, listen, I want to take a wicket and I'd like to put this sort of field. That is what Stokes does. He plans how he's going to break things and how he's going to get rid of partnerships," Shastri stated.
India will now require a gallant fightback to remain in the competition as England continue to pounce on their superiority in home conditions.
