“Shubman Gill has just taken over, very quick to talk about captaincy”

Ex-Indian cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin came down hard at those criticising Shubman Gill’s captaincy in ENG vs IND 1st Test in Leeds. The Punjab batter’s captaincy stint started off on a losing note as the Men in Blue were handed a 5-wicket defeat by England. Azharuddin joins the likes of Ravi Shastri in defending a young captain Gill who has just taken over the reins from Rohit Sharma.

“Can’t just complain and criticise”

As per India Today, Azharuddin pointed out that it was too early to talk about Gill’s captaincy as this was his first match as the leader. He urged the critics to give him a fair chance while also stating that it wasn’t right to complain about his leadership skills after just one game.

“This is his just first match as a captain, you just can’t talk about captaincy. It’s too early to talk about captaincy. We should give him a fair chance and he has just taken over. So, you should give him a lot of time and support. We cannot just complain and criticise players like that,” Azharuddin said.

Lack of contributions from the middle and lower order batters along with a poor show with the ball were the main reasons for India’s defeat. Azharuddin claimed that India lost due to a batting collapse. He further said that India will now be tasked to pick the right players and that their bowling had to be perfect.

“We lost because of batting collapse, but anyways now they have to pick the right players and bowling has to be perfect,” said Azharuddin.

The former Indian captain minced no words in coming down hard on India’s bowling options at Headingley. Pointing out that the team was too dependent on Bumrah, Azharuddin backed for the inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI.

“They are too much dependent on Bumrah. It’s not easy because you need more experienced bowlers, and they should play Kuldeep Yadav,” Azharuddin added.