Like at the start of MS Dhoni era, it’s Shubman Gill Vs In-betweeners … Generational leap loading?

Be it sports, boardroom wars or royal successions; luck and fate are the two co-conspirators that decide most leadership battles. Successions aren’t straightforward. Picking a captain isn’t just about presenting the crown to the team’s senior most, or the top performer. At times, it’s a punt, a calculated risk or a compromise call dictated by circumstances. The winner is usually the one who is in the right place at the right time.

Shubman Gill is what the media loves calling the ‘front-runner’ – the cautious term to say they aren’t sure. But this isn’t a one-horse race. In case Shubman makes it, Indian cricket’s latest churn brings to mind another similar period of change.

Back in 2009, MS Dhoni had got preferred over a quartet of seniors to be India’s captain in whites. Those who had missed out were a reputed pacer, a frontline batsman with leadership experience, an authoritative spinner and a world-class left-arm all-rounder. Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh had legitimate claims but they lost the captaincy race to their junior – Dhoni.

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It is eerily coincidental that Gill, 24, too is expected to be favoured over other aspirants with a similar profile. Again the ones losing out could be a reputed pacer, a frontline batsman with leadership experience and a world-class left-arm all-rounder.

Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja – all 30 plus players and senior to Gill – too have legitimate claims but captaincy debates aren’t always settled by checking figures and cricketing skills.

Indian cricket’s Fab Four era had an intimidating star cast. With Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman around, the Indian dressing room door mostly had a ‘no vacancy’ sign.

The next batch of players, despite their talent, laboured to find a place in the playing XI. Those who made it were exceptionally talented but couldn’t dream of being in leadership roles. Zaheer, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Yuvraj had captaincy potential but they couldn’t grow as leaders in the shadow of the towering stalwarts.

Around the mid-2000s, there was a glimmer of hope for the juniors when Rahul Dravid stepped down. That was the time, India could have thought of giving the reins to a young captain but the selectors opted for an interim arrangement.

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As recently as last year, Gill wasn’t even a certain starter in the Test team. (BCCI) As recently as last year, Gill wasn’t even a certain starter in the Test team. (BCCI)

Kumble, in his mid-30s, was made the captain. That decision wiped out the leadership aspirations of the next generations. And by the time Kumble quit, the ship had sailed.

Dhoni got the nod and the ‘not-so-Fab Four’ were superseded. Zaheer, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Yuvraj would be remembered as the ‘In-betweeners’ – the bunch that had a long internship but didn’t get the top job. And by the time the Big Four aged, their immediate juniors had passed their prime. Fate and luck, the two sly plotters, were laughing.

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The gaze of the selectors had settled on the ‘new sheriff in town’. Dhoni had an aura and charisma. He was a confident individual, not a groupie. He was the new hope and a long-term solution. Exactly the same as Gill.

It is interesting how time and circumstances change perceptions. As recently as last year, Gill wasn’t even a certain starter in the Test team. After his duck in the second innings of the first Test at Hyderabad against England, there was talk that Gill was on borrowed time. There was chatter that he was just one Test away from being sent back to domestic cricket.

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That was February of 2024. It was Captain Rohit’s finest hour in Tests. In-charge of a young team, in Virat Kohli’s absence, nothing suggested that his castle would crash within a year.

Meanwhile, Gill would come roaring back in the series. He would score a hundred in the next Test at Vizag. Back on track, he would be at his stylish best again in the final Test of the series at Dharamshala. With his captain at the other end goading and guiding him, Gill would score a majestic hundred. Even Rohit would hit a century.

Everything seemed fine with Indian cricket. Rohit, the father figure, was hand-holding the youngsters. But in a year’s time – which saw a series defeat at home against New Zealand and away BGT loss in Australia – the script turned on its head. It is England again next month, away this time, and Rohit has been nudged to retire and Gill is said to be given the crown.

But why Gill? Couldn’t the selectors do a Kumble again? Shouldn’t Gill be the captain-in-waiting and be an understudy to Bumrah or KL?

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Then there is also the curious case of Rishabh Pant in the limbo. Unlike Gill, he has even captained in domestic cricket, and he is a vital Test player, a swashbuckling wicket-keeper keeper batsman with a far better Test record as a match winning batsman than Dhoni at this stage in his career, but he isn’t seen as a leader of men. And KL seems to have surged ahead.

With Rohit and Kohli gone and the new WTC cycle about to commence, the decision makers are keen that Indian cricket takes a fresh guard. Had this situation arisen a few years back, the battle of captaincy would have been between Bumrah and KL.

On his return from injury in 2023, Bumrah was named the ODI captain as the seniors were rested. But frequent breakdowns didn’t help his cause. KL too was named India’s stand-in Test skipper in 2022 against South Africa. He was the temporary replacement for the injured Rohit. India went on to lose the series. Since then KL’s Test average has been 23.

Gill too isn’t on a hot streak, he averages 26 in the last two series that India lost. If selectors are set to take a giant leap of faith, Indian cricket would end up taking a massive generational jump. If that happens, the present day In-Betweeners – again a reputed pacer, a frontline batsman with leadership experience and a world-class left-arm all-rounder – will miss out again. Ha, ha … that’s Fate and luck laughing.

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