Shubman Gill's first assignment as India captain was a successful one as the team beat Zimbabwe 4-1 in a five-match T20I series. Gill himself didn't have the greatest of times with the bat though. He was pretty much the only Indian batter who played in all games of the series and scored 170 runs at a strike rate of 125.92.

Gill had missed out on a place in the Indian squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup, which they went on to win, after a disappointing 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL). Gill scored 426 runs at a strike rate of 147.40 in a season of high scores and high strike rates. Moreover, it was his first season as captain of Gujarat Titans and they finished eighth, missing out on the playoffs for the first time after having won the title in their first season in 2022 and finished runners-up in their second in 2023.

Veteran spinner Amit Mishra said that he would not have made Gill India captain based on his performance in the IPL. “I would not have made him the captain because I saw him in the IPL. Gill doesn't know how to captain a side, he has no idea about captaincy,” said Mishra on a Youtube show.

"Just because he is a part of the Indian team, he shouldn't be made the captain. Gill has done well in the IPL over the last few seasons, he did fine in the Indian team as well. The Indian team made him the captain as they want to give him the leadership experience, which wasn't visible when he led Gujarat Titans in IPL," Mishra added.

‘There are other options’

Mishra clarified that while he liked Gill as a player, he felt that Ruturaj Gaikwad is a better T20 opener. “Talking about Gill vs Gaikwad; look, I am not a hater of Gill and I like him as a player, but I think Gaikwad is a better player because he is someone who has made runs according to the situations, be it for Chennai or in the Asian Games as India captain,” he said.

Mishra said that India should have kept Gaikwad as their reserve opener in the T20 World Cup squad instead of Gill. "They should have kept Gaikwad as backup in the squad for the T20 World Cup squad because he is a complete player and brings calmness to the team. He does not play any risky shots except when necessary. I think he can play all three formats," he said.

The spinner also stated that there are other great options as well for India with regards to captaincy whenever Rohit Sharma steps down. "He was made captain to get some [leadership] experience in the Indian team. There are other options like Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant for potential captains in the team as well but they are also searching for other replacements for Rohit Sharma," said Mishra.

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