'He led better than Ben Stokes: - Former India cricketer’s stunning claim on Shubman Gill after ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test

Despite India's shocking defeat in the first Test in Headingley, a former India cricketer praised newly appointed skipper Shubman Gill for his decision-making abilities. Praising the young captain, Mohammad Kaif took on the bowling department of team India, except Jasprit Bumrah. Kaif labelled Gill as the 'helpless' leader of the team, as there was hardly anyone to support Bumrah.

For Kaif, India, in the first test of the five-match series, fought against England with one and a half bowlers. Other than Jasprit, no Indian bowler with the ball managed to impress the former international.

The former cricketer, now a professional commentator, said, "Helpless captain because he was playing with one and a half bowlers. One is Bumrah, and the remaining half is Jadeja. There was no support from Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, or Shardul. You can’t win the Test match with 1.5 bowlers. He did the captaincy very well and looked good to me. He used his resources well."

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Gill's batting and decisions making impressed Kaif

According to Kaif, as a captain, Shubman Gill's performance was better than England's captain Ben Stokes. Though the result of the match reflected a different result, Kaif put most of the blame on India's bowling department. The commentator and cricket expert were impressed to see the way Gill utilized Jasprit Bumrah, and as a batsman, he scored under pressure.

 "As a young captain, Gill did brilliantly by giving Bumrah 4-4 overs and rotating him well. He led better than Ben Stokes. Well done, thumbs up... I will praise him a lot because it was a big test for him in this series. It was important for him to score in England. Everyone said he doesn’t know how to play in England, made him captain, but hasn’t scored runs. But he passed the test with the bat, scored a century, and had excellent batting. Apart from captaincy, he showed he can deliver with the bat," the ex-cricketer added.