Can Shubman Gill Spark a Test Revival for India Like MS Dhoni Once Did?

When a bunch of talent from the new generation starts to knock on the door, selectors and the senior players have to take bold decisions, and then a team goes through a transition phase. The transition phase can be pre-planned or can be sudden. Team India has to experience multiple sudden transition phases; the latest is the current Test squad.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's retirement came from nowhere, and then BCCI selected Shubman Gill as the leader. As a leader, his first assignment is scheduled to be in England from June 20. The batter with lots of potential—can he make his name as one of the great skippers India ever had?

The situation is very much similar to the beginning of the era of Captain MS Dhoni. When MS took over the captaincy of the Whites, then the senior players like Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retired. Harbhajan Singh was far away from his prime.

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At that moment, Dhoni had only one option—trust the young. Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Cheteshwar Pujara stepped into the squad to fill the voids. Gill also has to do the same—trust the youth. He has multiple options to fill the blanks created by Sharma, Kohli, and Ashwin. KL Rahul, Karun Nair, and Jadeja are there, but they are not the young guns. Someone from a fresh batch, like Sai Sudharsan, Tanush Kotian, or Anshul Kamboj, should utilize the opportunity to create their own legacy.

Colors are there to use on a blank canvas

When Dhoni donned the captain's armband in the Whites, India's performance was also not so celebrated. He changed the mentality of the squad and started to get results from the historic South Africa series, where India ended in a draw. India clean swept against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home and created a fortress with the home soil by winning back-to-back series against the West Indies, New Zealand, and other visiting nations. 

Gill also has to create a piece of art from the scraps. India suffered humiliation against New Zealand and Australia and missed the World Test Championship 2025 Final. From there, the team now has to bounce back under a new leader.