Gill endorses need for bold team balance in search of 20 wickets

Shubman Gill said that India were open to sacrificing batting depth in favour of a more potent bowling attack, even if it meant going in with just six batters and four tailenders.

The new captain's assertion on the eve of the Test series in England is a notable shift from India's most recent overseas series in Australia, where they opted for batting insurance by fielding Ravindra Jadeja alongside two other all-rounders, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

"Yes, definitely. You can't win a Test match without taking 20 wickets no matter how many runs you score," Gill said at Headingley on Thursday (June 19). "So that has been one of our key discussion points, you know, how are we going to take 20 wickets and there might be a case where we would only be going with six batters and we would see a bowling all-rounder and three to four fast bowlers or proper bowlers."

Gill also looked back to India's 4-1 win at home against England in early 2024, a scoreline that, in his view, masked how tight some of those contests were. Incidentally, it was India's relentless five-man attack in favourable conditions made the difference, the kind of structure that teams under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, and later Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid, consistently backed for its ability to win anywhere.

"Sir, the blueprint that we got from our seniors in the last 5-10 years, we can win anywhere and we will try to follow that same confidence and blueprint," Gill said. "And as I said, if your team has a very good environment, players feel very secure and confident and they know what their role is. So we want to create that environment in the team. And if we succeed in creating that environment, I think our Test series and the WTC cycle will be very successful."

But fewer batters also means greater responsibility for the top six, a particularly inexperienced one. Especially on Gill himself, who's stepping into the No.4 role vacated by Kohli. The new captain acknowledged the scrutiny but welcomed the challenge, saying he aspired to be the best batter of the series.

"After Virat bhai retired, me and GG bhai [Gambhir] had a discussion about it and we were both clear that he wanted me to be at number four and I was also clear that I also wanted to be at that number.

"Honestly, when I want to go out there and bat, I just want to play as a batsman and not really want to think that I'm the captain of the game because I think that sometimes puts too much pressure on me. Whenever I'm going out there, I want to play as a batsman and want to dominate the opposition and be the best batsman in the series. And that's what I'm trying to look at."