R Ashwin praises 'futuristic call' to appoint Shubman Gill as vice captain
Former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has praised the selectors’ futuristic move to appoint Shubman Gill as the vice-captain of the team ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and captain Rohit Sharma revealed Gill as the vice-captain for the mega event and the preceding ODI series against England while announcing the squad on January 18.
The 25-year-old was awarded the vice captaincy of both the ODI and T20I sides for the Sri Lanka tour in July 2024. However, he lost his deputy role in T20Is after losing his place in the team, with other openers sealing their spot. Recently, Ashwin shared his views on Gill’s appointment and praised the selectors for the move.
“Just think about whom else we can appoint as vice-captain from the current squad. I will not say whether the decision to appoint Gill was right or wrong, but the point that was raised was correct that he was the vice-captain in the last series as well. I could be wrong, but I guess he’s done some vice captaincy in Tests as well. I think this decision is a futuristic call as the management might be thinking about who could be their leader in the future,” Ashwin said on his Youtube Channel.
Furthermore, Ashwin said that amongst other contenders for vice captaincy only Gill had his place assured in the playing XI. He also said that the youngster can lean on Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah if he ever has to lead in Rohit Sharma’s absence in the future.
“Axar Patel has been named as the vice-captain for the upcoming T20I series against England. There’s stiff competition between Axar and Jadeja that which one out of the two will play in the XI. If we look at Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, the latter is an incumbency keeper. There could be a possibility that both Pant and Rahul play but they’ve given the vice captaincy to the player whose place in the playing XI is confirmed. If Shubman goes on to become a captain in the future, then he can lean on Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah to guide him,” he added.
Gill was made the captain of the T20I team on the tour to Zimbabwe in 2024, a series India won by 4-1. The 25-year-old had a remarkable year in 50 overs cricket in 2023 as he finished as the highest run scorer of the year with 1584 runs from 29 matches at an average of 63.36 with five hundreds and nine fifties. Gill will look to continue his good form in the upcoming England series and the Champions Trophy as he’s all set to experience being a part of the leadership group in an ICC event for the first time.
